Is Perdue Chicken halal? Eating halal in America is difficult, especially if you are trying to stay on a budget.
Frozen chicken is a great way to eat healthily and make your meals last, but it’s challenging to find a brand that follows halal guidelines when raising and slaughtering chickens.
Perdue chicken that is sold commercially is not halal. However, the brand has a halal chicken option for restaurants: Perdue Harvestland Halal Chicken.
In this guide, we will dive deep into this matter, talk about why most chicken companies are not halal and give you a list of halal chicken brands that sell at major grocery chains.
Halal Vs. Kosher
Halal food preparation rules are from the Islamic faith, while kosher food preparation rules are from Judaism.
While the basic ideas behind the two sets of rules are similar, they are not the same.
Tip: Halal meat is not necessarily kosher, but most kosher meat is usually halal. When buying meat, read the label carefully to ensure that you are getting the right kind!
Halal
Halal meat is raised humanely, and the animals stay healthy and eat strictly vegetarian diets.
Animal by-products are strictly prohibited, especially pork or alcoholic products.
These animals are generally healthier than regular factory-raised chickens.
Halal meat must be slaughtered while alive and healthy with a single cut to the main artery.
The blood must drain entirely from the body, and the animal’s executioner says specific prayers during the slaughtering process. Otherwise, the meat is not halal.
Kosher
For kosher chicken, the animals are also raised humanely and fed well.
They must avoid pork and other forbidden foods, including certain kinds of grain.
When slaughtered, kosher chickens are inspected for disease, and only healthy chickens are considered kosher.
The blood is also removed from the body at least an hour after the slaughter.
Tip: If you’re cooking a whole chicken for Muslim friends but can only find kosher meat, be sure you ask whether it’s acceptable to them as people have differing views on the subject.
Is Perdue Chicken Halal?
Unfortunately, there are no Perdue halal chicken products currently available in America.
Every Perdue product in the grocery store is not halal because the chickens were not fed or slaughtered correctly.
Like most chicken companies, Perdue uses machines to slaughter their chickens, which is against the halal code.
Their commercial factories use antibiotics and animal by-products and slaughter their animals’ using machines.
Halal products are essential for those of the Muslim faith but are not the most efficient way to slaughter and sell chickens.
Most companies, Perdue included, will choose a more straightforward and cheaper way to produce white meat.
However, Perdue has one halal factory that sells meat directly to restaurants and large-scale providers.
Although you won’t find this meat in grocery stores, it’s available in restaurants that use Perdue chicken.
Fact: Remember, meat animals must be raised strictly vegetarian with no animal by-products and slaughtered by hand while alive and healthy to be considered halal.
Which Perdue Products Are Halal?
While no Perdue halal products are sold commercially in America, they have a wholesale halal option for their restaurant partners.
Perdue Harvestland Halal Chicken is halal certified and raised in America.
These chickens are raised in Omaha, Nebraska, under strict halal guidelines. No animal by-products are used, and they are slaughtered by hand.
Note: While this factory claims to be in alignment with halal rules, Perdue hasn’t disclosed whether they stun the animals before slaughter or not.
This is the only Perdue halal product, and it’s not available in ordinary grocery stores.
For those looking for an easy meal at home, finding another brand to stay within the halal guidelines will be necessary.
Which Perdue Products Are Not Halal?
The rest of Perdue’s chicken products are not halal.
Because Perdue only has one halal factory and it is dedicated to foodservice chicken, the products you find in stores are slaughtered by machine and likely fed with animal by-products.
As of this writing, Perdue has not announced the creation of any mass-market halal products, even though almost 3.5 million Muslims live in the United States.
As that number grows, chicken companies have adjusted practices to assure that they can sell their products to everyone.
Eventually, Perdue will likely offer halal chicken to grocery stores and retailers across the United States.
However, it will be necessary to look to other brands to find halal-conforming products until then.
Where Can I Find Halal Chicken?
The best way to find halal chicken is from a local Muslim butcher or farmer.
You can be sure that the meat is fully halal, both in the raising and the slaughtering.
It is also easier to buy locally and develop a relationship with your local butcher or farmer.
Of course, it’s not always possible to find an Islamic butcher or farmer near you, and this largely depends on where you live and what you can afford.
Many of us need to shop at larger grocery stores. If you need to find the halal chicken in the frozen or deli section, you can look for specific brands and markers.
Anything that says halal-certified is likely safe. However, several different halal certification processes exist, and not all of them are as verified as others.
Research according to your own beliefs and strictness before deciding which certifications to trust.
Tip: If you’re looking for Halal frozen chicken, several brands sell certified halal chicken to Walmart and other large grocery chains.
Halal-Safe Chicken Brands
If you live in America and are looking for convenient halal chicken, here are some brand options:
The most reliable halal meat brand in America is Crescent Foods. This company’s meat is halal, raised to roam freely on a farm, and slaughtered responsibly.
Crescent Foods sells meat to many large grocery chains, including Walmart. Other brands that advertise as halal include Whole Foods, Al Safa, K and N’s, and others.
These are sold at multiple locations, from Walmart to H-E-B across the country. However, it’s crucial to check if the meat is halal or if it has been raised free-range.
Of course, you should always check the labels–not all the chicken by these brands is halal.
If you want to avoid animals that have been stunned before slaughter, look up each brand individually or get your meat from a Muslim provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about chicken brands and halal meat.
We hope these answers help you!
What Is Halal?
Halal is an Arabic word meaning “permissible” and refers to the types of food available for those following the Islamic faith.
It refers to how the animals were raised and fed and the particular method of slaughter.
The animals must be healthy and alive, prayed over, and the blood must drain completely.
Does Halal Include Stunning the Animal?
Whether or not an animal is stunned before slaughter is a debate amongst Muslim scholars.
Some maintain that if an animal survives the first slaughter, stunning is permissible.
However, others insist that it’s not halal if an animal is stunned. Unfortunately, companies do not generally announce whether they’ve numbed the animal or not.
Is Halal Healthier Than Regular Meat?
Many people need to eat halal meat for religious reasons.
However, you might be looking into this because you’re curious about the health benefits of eating halal.
While the meat itself is still meat and has the same nutrients as non-halal meat, it is healthier for a few reasons. It mostly comes down to the raising of the animals.
Halal animals eat healthier diets than most mass-produced meat, and they must be vegetarian fed and healthy when they die.
So, this way you reduce the risk of getting fattier meats or meats with additives.
So, What’s the Answer?
Is perdue chicken halal? While no American Perdue products are halal, they offer a commercial halal product.
Unfortunately, Perdue has yet to provide a halal product in grocery stores, so you will have to look elsewhere for halal frozen chicken.
Maybe the company will start selling its halal chicken in grocery stores soon.