What does the Red Tractor logo mean for halal meat and animal welfare?
All meat which carries the Red Tractor logo on pack meets strict standards that are independently assessed by third party certification bodies.
Central to these standards is the non-negotiable rule that every animal must be stunned before slaughter, without exception. This is central to ensuring animal welfare while delivering safe, traceable food that consumers can trust.
Stunning: what this means in practice
All meat sold with the Red Tractor claim must come from animals that have been stunned before slaughter: This:
- Renders the animal immediately unconscious and insensible to pain
- Keeps the animal unconscious until death
Animals killed without prior stunning cannot be sold with the Red Tractor claim, and strict controls ensure this is always the case.
The majority of Halal meat in the UK is stunned before slaughter
Halal does not always mean non-stunned. According to the Food Standards Agency, most Halal meat and poultry in the UK comes from animals that have been stunned prior to slaughter. This is why Red Tractor assured meat and poultry, which is always stunned, can also be certified and labelled as Halal.
Strong controls and independent checks
Slaughterhouses in the UK operate under strict legal controls. These state that all stunning equipment must be correctly set, properly maintained and continuously monitored. Compliance is overseen daily by Official Veterinarians and the Food Standards Agency (FSA), with enforcement action taken where required.
Keeping assured and non-assured meat separate
To ensure consumers can trust the Red Tractor logo, strict controls are in place to prevent any mixing of assured and non-assured product.
These include:
- Full segregation throughout production
- Clear batch identification
- End-to-end traceability checks
- Regular independent audits
In addition, Red Tractor’s Traceability Challenge Programme tests the supply chain from farms to pack. This means any food or drink carrying the Red Tractor logo can be trusted as all key stages in the assurance chain have been checked. Any business that fails to meet the requirements would lose its certification and the right to use the Red Tractor logo.
Halal labelled meat and Red Tractor assurance
Pre-slaughter stunning is a mandatory requirement of our scheme regardless of any other certifications or assurances.
Decisions about whether halal status appears on packaging are made by retailers and food businesses, in line with government labelling rules.
Red Tractor’s commitment
Red Tractor takes animal welfare extremely seriously and welcomes scrutiny. Any evidence suggesting that our welfare at stunning and slaughter standards are not being met or that there is inaccurate use of the Red Tractor logo or claim on meat will be fully investigated.
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