New Halal Macon Rashers - strips of smoked beef or chicken that can be used in exactly the same way as bacon have been launched.

They have been unveiled by KQF, the British manufacturer of halal convenience foods and believed to be the first products of their kind to be certified by the Halal Monitoring Committee.

The new Halal Macon Rashers are naturally smoked using beech wood chips.

Mildly seasoned and sold ready-sliced, they are suitable for use in sandwiches, in home cooking and in a halal version of the traditional English breakfast. Importantly, however, they contain significantly less saturated fat than bacon because the light marbling is achieved using lean chicken meat rather than fat of any kind.

"We've been working hard on new product development," notes KQF managing director, Faruk Vali. "In particular, we've been looking to introduce healthier kinds of convenience food - tasty snacks and family meals that make life easier without piling on the sugar, fat and salt.

"The Halal Macon Rashers are the first of these new products and, in the trial stages, customer feedback has been excellent.

"They come ready-cooked and they can be eaten on their own or used to add flavour and texture to other dishes such as pasta, salads, wrapped sausages or oven roasts. The beef and chicken versions each have distinctly different flavours."

KQF Halal Macon Rashers are available to trade clients such as caterers, schools and retailers, and to consumers via the KQF website - www.kqf-foods.com.