Meat eating limitations

Your dining customers will doubtless vary in their meat tastes but for some consumers their choice is based on adherence to religious faiths or to principles which by choice preclude them from eating products of animal origin.

Religious restrictions

Some religious faiths have particular requirements about the meat that they eat. In the UK this applies predominantly to members of the Muslim and Jewish religions amongst others:

• Muslim: ‘Halal’ means ‘lawful’ and this is the method used by Muslims. In the context of red meat it applies to lamb (and mutton) and to beef, but never pork. ‘Haram’ – ‘unlawful’ – is the opposite of Halal. Pork and unlawfully slaughtered beef and lamb are Haram. A slaughter man kills the animal by a single cut across the throat whilst saying “Bismilla Allah Akbar”. Slaughter is generally very fast and efficient
• Judaism: The Jewish slaughter method is called Shechita, and the meat produced is Kosher meat
• Sikhism: Sikhs do not see beef as taboo. A nonvegetarian Sikh can take beef, lamb or pork as readily as any other meat
• Hinduism: States that Hindus have to be careful about food because what they eat decides physical wellbeing and mental makeup. Eating animal meat or heavy food may lead to the strengthening of animal qualities and lethargic nature in us. One belief suggests that killing innocent and helpless animals for the purpose of satiating hunger is bad karma with harmful consequences. However, not all Hindus avoid eating meat and Hindu law books do not prohibit the eating of meat in general, but only certain types of meat

Customer preferences

Vegetarians and vegans

The principle categories of vegetarians are:

• vegetarians – who do not eat fish, meat or poultry. Some however are selective and wil eat fish or poultry or some specific meats like bacon but still call themselves vegetarians
• vegans – who will not eat any food of animal origin, including, for example, milk or eggs ovolactarians – who adhere to the same restrictions as vegans, but do include milk and eggs in their diet
• lactarians – who adhere to the same restrictions as vegans, but do include milk in their diet (but not eggs)
• herbivores – who will eat only plants
• fruitarians – who will eat only fruits
• granivores – who will eat only seeds and grain

Meat allergy

A very small number of people have an allergic reaction to a particular meat. Processed meats sometimes contain other ingredients, particularly milk, so it is possible for someone who is allergic to milk to react to a meat product. Beef allergy is extremely rare and there is no known allergy to lamb.

Organic and free range meat

The caterer should be clear about these terms:

• Organic meat should be produced by breeding and rearing animals with regard to their welfare and by ‘traditional and natural’ methods. The term is tightly controlled by legislation
• ‘Free-range’ is a rather vague term which describes a wide range of systems of keeping animals in ‘unconfined’ groups. By definition, most Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb, which has been allowed to roam and feed freely on the hillside pastures for much of the year, is free-range

Source: David Reading, Focus on Food

Back to top