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Meat prepared according to Islamic law is called halal meat.

The animal must be healthy and alive when it is killed, and the carcass must be completely bloodless.

This method of animal slaughter produces meat that is more delicate and tasty.

The consumption of halal meat has a lot of extra advantages.

Let's take a look at each benefit, with supporting facts.

1. Halal Meat Production Starts From Careful Selection

You must follow precise guidelines during halal slaughter.

This is to ensure that the animal slaughtered is in line with halal standards.

When choosing an animal for slaughter, you must consider many factors.

For instance, the animal must have the following criteria:

• The animal must not be dead

• The animal is in good health

• The animal is without any abnormalities or disorders.

The animal must also meet certain requirements about size, age, and slaughter manor.

Furthermore, animal meat must be halal (permissible) for Muslims to eat.

Cows, sheep, goats, and chickens are the most butchered animals for halal meat.

But a variety of other halal animals existed as well.

As long as the animal meat preparation follows the specific Islamic guidelines.

This is to make sure that the animal meat is suitable for consumption.

Generally, the meat should be good for your body and will not harm you in any way.

Read this article to know which animals and birds are halal and haram for consumption.

2. Halal Meat Is Safer For Consumption

There are several reasons why halal meat is safer to eat.

We'll look at specifically the meat:

• Bacterial density

• Growth environment

First off, there is a lower possibility of bacteria getting into the meat due to how the animal is killed.

And there is less possibility for bacteria to thrive.

This is because the meat's blood is removed during the process.

In a study conducted by researchers from Saudi Arabia, they found that Coliforms, E. coli, or Salmonella were not present in the samples of halal beef sausage.

But they were present in the non-halal meat sausage.

Secondly, since halal meat is typically hormone- and grass-fed, it is of higher quality.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Extremadura, Spain, found that the healthier lipid profile in halal meat may have had a positive impact on many things.

Including your muscle mass, body fat, weight, and antioxidant status.

3. Halal Slaughtering Is More Ethical And Humane

In the production of halal meat, Islam does not tolerate any form of animal maltreatment.

According to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), when killing an animal, you must do so with awareness and care.

Although Islam forbids animal abuse in halal meat preparation and production, it still occurs in the world today.

In a study by researchers from the USA and New Zealand, they discussed why subpar procedures and violations of animal welfare still take place during the manufacturing of halal meat, and how they can be curbed or stopped.

Some of their suggested improvements are:

• Assessing job applicants for empathy and compassion

• Training staff about religious and regulatory requirements of animal welfare from on-farm to slaughter

• Scheduling follow-up training for employees to prevent "compassion fatigue"

• Installing CCTV cameras around lairage and slaughter sites

• Incorporating animal welfare requirements into halal certification

4. You Can Marinade Halal Meat More Effectively Than Non-Halal Meat

By immersing the meat in a seasoned, usually acidic liquid, your meat can be more flavorful.

Also, the meat will become more soft and tasty after a successful marinade.

Choosing the proper meat and marinade is important for a good marinade.

But have you ever marinated a steak but discovered that the flavor didn't get all the way into the meat?

It can be upsetting to work so hard to create a delectable marinade only to have it be ineffective.

Fortunately, you can marinate halal meat easily compared to non-halal meat.

In a study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, researchers use 3 methods to test the marinate ability of meat.

These methods include:

• Mass gain to determine the mass of methylene blue solution in the samples

• Spectroscopy to detect the amount of dye absorbed; and

• Measurement of dye penetration distance inside the samples.

They found that halal meat is more permeable by up to 60%.

Whereas, non-halal meat has a permeability of up to 13% only.

Since halal meat has a striking dye uptake of up to 60%, this means that you can marinate halal meat more easily and faster.

5. Halal Meat Has Better Meat Quality

Guidelines on how animals going for slaughter should be handled are tight.

This is to ensure you get high-quality meat.

Because meat is a perishable commodity.

These laws are supported by reliable science.

But in Islam, the laws governing how to handle animals before slaughter were established long before any relevant scientific research had been done.

For instance, the Islamic injunctions stated that animals should not feel fatigued, stressed, excited or nervous prior to slaughtering.

You can get more Quranic verses and hadith on kindness towards animals here.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also instructed that animals that will be put to death should be fed well and given access to water.

Therefore, it is desirable that animals have unrestricted access to food and water while awaiting slaughter.

It is customary in a contemporary method, however, to deny feeding to animals a few hours before slaughter.

The argument put forth by proponents of this practice is that animals who have been fasting bleed better, the carcass is simpler to dress, and it will look brighter.

This belief is simply erroneous.

Because according to Pereira et al. study in 2013, insufficient feeding prior to slaughter tends to result in the following consequence: reduce the muscles' glycogen stores.

Decreasing the meat's glycogen store will lower the meat's gustatory and preserving characteristics.

On the other hand, if the animals are fed well, the level of muscle glycogen rises.

Doing this will reduce the pH of the meat and ensure that an adequate amount of lactic acid is produced after slaughter.

As a result, meat is more tender and tasty.

6. Halal Meat Production Has Better Positioning For Maximum Blood Loss

The amount of bloodshed from the carcass depends on the animal's position when it is bleeding.

The animal should be laid out for the Islamic way of slaughter.

Preferably with its left flank towards the Kiblah (the direction where the Muslims pray; towards Kaaba).

You can read more on halal meat preparation or halal slaughtering requirements here.

You see...

Due to the strain of the body on the heart, when an animal is lying on its left flank, more blood is likely to be lost.

The Islamic manner of situating the animal obviously results in the following consequences:

• Stop carotid retraction

• Ensures quick onset of unconsciousness, and

• Ensures painless death.

In current practices, on the other hand, the large animals are stunned first at today's slaughterhouses before being hanged with their legs fastened to chains.

In the case of poultry, the birds are first stunned and then hung vertically.

While the animal is in this hanging or vertical position, a mechanical bleeding procedure is carried out.

So, according to a study from Pakistan, Islamic methods of slaughtering are therefore superior to modern methods.

Since they allow the animal's body to lose the most blood.

7. Halal Meat Is Fresher With Longer Shelf-Life

Meat is a common component of many of our meals.

It contains a wealth of protein and other vital nutrients.

And there are many wonderful ways to prepare it.

However, there is a significant drawback to meat: it has a short shelf life and can degrade quickly.

This can be a big issue, especially if you want to save up meat for later meals or don't have time to cook it right away.

So the fact that halal meat is fresher and has a longer shelf life is one of its most important benefits.

This is due to the fact that the Islamic technique of animal slaughter entails totally draining their blood.

The absence of blood results in meat's resistance to germs and other microbes that cause deterioration.

Halal meat can therefore be kept in storage for longer periods of time without deteriorating in quality.

Source: https://kitchenicious.com/scientific-benefits-of-halal-meat/