Should consumers be warned that the non-kosher meat they purchase is the non-kosher byproduct of kosher slaughter?
A senior British politician thinks so.
He believes that kosher (and hallal) slaughter is inherently cruel. He doesn't want to ban it, though. He just wants non-kosher, non-hallal consumers to know the source of their meat.
Who objects to this?
Jews. (And Muslims, too, I think.)
On what basis does the Jewish community object?
Labeling the non-kosher byproduct of kosher slaughter goes against their "religious beliefs":
Jews in Britain have reportedly objected to a Government proposal to label kosher meat before they are put on sale.
Reacting to Food and Farming Minister Lord Rooker's proposal that suggests that the public should be given the choice of deciding whether they want to buy food from animals that have been bled to death, community leaders and members said this step to label meats went against their religious beliefs.…
I think the real reason is that non-kosher meat identified as kosher slaughtered would have difficulty selling. That will drive up the cost of kosher meat.
We could get around this by trabering, by removing the difficult to remove sinews and fats from the hindquarters. This would render the entire animal kosher, and may in the long run be more cost efficient than selling half of each animal as non-kosher.
Either way, the cost of kosher meat would rise.
Still, it is difficult to object to open labeling. It seems to me consumers have the right to make an informed choice.
What is objectionable is the Jewish community's attempt to hide behind religious belifs to evade open labeling.
What Jewish law would be violated by labeling non-kosher meat as kosher slaughtered non-kosher?