Alcohol Served At Quick’s Restaurants
Quick – a popular French fast food restaurant which serves halal burgers – could possibly find itself mired in another brouhaha. This time, the Paris Mosque – the most influential mosque in France – complained that Quick’s restaurants are not “fully halal” after all. Whilst Quick’s beef patties and turkey bacons have been certified as halal, officials from the Paris Mosque, said that other ingredients such as its buns and French fries used at the halal outlets will have to be checked as well. The assistant to the Rector of the Mosque, Cheikh Al Sid Cheikh said, “The rest must be validated too, or else there’s no point.” This remark was met with swift response from Quick which said that comprehensive halal certification for its outlets were, never in the first place, its aim because alcohol such as beer is still being served there.
Doubt On Halal-Certified Food
The Paris Mosque’s latest remarks bring to light the dichotomy amongst Muslims in France about the criteria and processes for valid halal certification. For meat to be certified halal, the head of an animal must be pointed towards Mecca and verses from the Koran are recited during the slaughter. Fateh Kimouche – a prominent French Muslim who coined the situation as “halal-gate” – said that the halal certification in France were by and large “aren’t rigorous enough” because there were no observers at slaughterhouses to verify compliance to the Islamic law. Fateh Kimouche said, “Up to 90 percent of meat marked ‘halal’ isn’t really, and there are big names in French industry that are up to their necks in the problem.”
Praise For KFC
Whilst the Paris Mosque had voiced its displeasure over the handling of the matter by the Quick fastfood chain, the Mosque has also commended Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for its consultative approach as the fast food chain had sought advice from Muslim officials for its halal menu.
Think About It
Is Cheikh Al Sid Cheikh correct to say that other ingredients such as buns and fries must be validated as halal? Can a halal restaurant serve alcohol? Is Fateh Kimouche correct to say that “up to 90 percent of meat marked ‘halal’ isn’t really halal”?
Previous posts
French Halal Fast Food Chain Quick Expands Quickly Into Untapped Market
KFC In Halal Fiasco
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