The Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) have responded after three leading Muslim scholars announced Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is halal and can be consumed by Muslims.

The HMC said they had been ‘inundated by members of the public asking about this visit’. The certification body said since their inception they ‘had not accepted stunning/mechanical slaughter/gassing of animals’. 

This view had not changed but they would not comment on KFC food as this was a matter for the Halal Food Authority (HFA).

KFC serves Halal food in several restaurants across the UK and this is certified by the HFA.

Earlier this week Ulemas (scholars) from three major mosques in Blackburn said they had travelled to an official KFC slaughterhouse to check for themselves whether the food would fit their criteria of halal.

It followed concerns from members of the public after the opening of a new halal branch in Whitebirk, Blackburn. This is part of the £100m 90-acre Frontier Park development by Euro Garages.

A statement on the HMC website read, “The scholars who attended are not affiliated with HMC and did not make the visit on behalf of HMC. 

“HMC does not certify KFC and therefore cannot comment fully on their supply chain. 

“We understand some KFC branches are certified Halal by the Halal Food Authority (HFA) and the poultry produced is stunned and hand slaughtered. 

“All questions related to the products and branches should be forwarded to HFA.

“HMC since its inception has not accepted stunning/mechanical slaughter/gassing of animals based on advice from scholars.

“HMC has also adopted a unique monitoring system whereby it monitors at each stage in the supply chain ensuring that the products meet with the HMC standard at all times.

“HMC personnel are present at every abattoir everyday where their certified production takes place. HMC monitors continue to make regular random visits (4 times a week) at the outlets to ensure products are HMC certified.”

Some Muslims will not consume food that has been stunned before slaughter whilst others will.

Earlier this week three scholars said,  “Given recent enquiries about KFC being halal (Frontier Park, Blackburn), today (10/12/18) a visit to One Stop Halal slaughter house was conducted by Maulana Suhail (Masjid e Tauheedul Islam Blackburn), Maulana Ilyas (Masjid e Hidayah Blackburn) and Mufti Siraz (Masjid e Irfan).

“They saw the whole halal slaughtering process and had all their questions answered. Following the visit they have deemed the facility thorough, professional and more importantly halal -Alhamdulillah!”

The Lancashire Council Mosques has also we believe not changed its halal criteria.

A LCM statement read, “Lancashire Council of Mosques confirms that it does not endorse poultry that is stunned before slaughter. This is contrary to the Prophetic method of slaughter.

“Such products do not conform to the Halal criteria of the Lancashire Council of Mosques which was adopted after extensive consultation with Lancashire based scholars and Imams from the various schools of thought.

"We would therefore request the community to exercise caution.”

The KFC website states, “We set ourselves high standards across all our restaurants and with our suppliers. As part of our commitment to maintaining these standards, we work closely with the Halal Food Authority, who accredit and regularly audit our Halal restaurants.

“In our Halal restaurants we do not handle any pork ingredients, and all the food and drink items served in these restaurants are approved by the Halal Food Authority. This ensures the very best Halal standards but does mean that certain menu items and limited time offers may not be available.

“Another key consideration for us was that we were able to ensure that the halal certified chicken would also meet the rigorous animal welfare standards we employ in the UK, and we consulted leading animal welfare groups about this."