Kentucky Fried Chicken Halal: When KFC Met The EDL
WHEN Kentucky Fried Chicken trialled halal meat at a few of their Lancashire outlets (inc: Accrington, Blackburn, Colne and Burnley) the reaction was less than tasteful. There were protests. Muslim mums wept that now there was one less battier to their children eating junk food. Anti-Muslims screamed: “Keep Our Imported Fried Chicken English and Christian!” And then the English Defence League (EDL) got involved.
Anorak’s Karen has followed the story:
March 15 2010: It’s Not Muslim Chicken
“In a statement the LCM (Lancashire Council of Mosques) said: “Upon researching KFC’s website, it is apparent the chickens are stunned before slaughter. This issue is of great concern to us because the halal criterion, adopted by LCM after wide consultation, does not allow stunning and this conforms to British law.”
So the Lancashire Council of Mosques isn’t happy because of the method of slaughter but, meanwhile:
“Meanwhile a protest has been launched against KFC’s decision to serve only halal meat at its Colne branch.
More than 1,500 people have joined a Facebook group, ‘No halal at Colne KFC.’ The HFA is the largest food certification body in the UK and certifies thousands of shops, butchers and stores across the UK. “
This is happening more often around here now. We now have schools, Italian restaurants and a pizza chain all switching to halal.
I can see trouble brewing if they all switch over. People want a choice – even if they don’t have a clue what halal is.
April 23 2010: Restaurant protest in row over halal meat
“Up to 20 members of Our England Today waved placards and St George’s Cross flags at KFC in Deepdale Shopping Park, Preston, on Friday.”
Only a bit of trouble so far but this made me laugh. Kentucky is now a colony of the British chicken empire.
They were just saying, do you know it’s halal meat or something. They tried to give me a leaflet but I didn’t take it, it might put me off.
April 27 2010: No arrests at anti-halal demo at Blackburn KFC
On St George’s Day (George was very particular about his fried chicken):
“According to police, the protest was organised by the English Defence League, although a similar event at a KFC in Preston was attributed to the Our England Today group.”
A whole 27 people were there. I wonder how many were eating inside or in the queue at the time?
April 29 2010: Muslim group question KFC halal claim
“KFC has approval from the Halal Food Authority (HFA) but the LCM disagrees with the authority’s mechanical slaughtering and stunning methods. Instead the LCM prefers the criteria of the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC).”
So that’s members of the EDL, Our England Today and the LCM who won’t eat it. I wonder what percentage of KFC’s customers they all add up to?
June 26 2010: KFC forced to ditch halal-only menus after disappointing sales
KFC has scrapped its policy of serving halal food only in some of its takeaways, following customer protests.
One hundred of the fast food chain’s restaurants removed non-halal items from their menus last year in an attempt to attract Muslim customers.
But thousands of regular customers complained, including Alan Phillips, who was furious when the Burton-on-Trent branch refused to serve him his favourite Big Daddy chicken burger with bacon and cheese topping.
Why was the halal meal deal scrapped?
The store added that its decision was based ‘solely on sales data’.
I wonder if there will be any protests about that?
October 4 2010: EDL targets Blackburn KFC in protest over Halal chicken
Here we go again.
A GROUP of 40 English Defence League supporters descended on Blackburn to protest about a fast food restaurant’s decision to sell Halal chicken.
Police said the group staged the demonstration outside KFC, in Haslingden Road, Blackburn, around noon on Saturday.
Although no arrests were made, officers dispersed the protesters around 4pm and carried out a ‘reassurance operation’ throughout the town.
I thought my last update was a report that KFC were abandoning the project. Maybe their sales are better in Blackburn.
I’ve just looked on their website and it seems they only ended the trials at a few branches because of lack of demand:
Despite positive feedback, a few stores haven’t met our forecasts, so the following 5 restaurants will be ending their halal trial on the 19th July 2010 (No longer serving halal products)
Accrington – BB5 1W
Burton on Trent – DE14 1YD
Colne – BB8 9HH
Old Kent Road – SE15 1JS
Hyde Road – M18 7AA
October 5 2010: Another update. I didn’t realise they’d planned a week of protest.
Police act over Blackburn halal demos:
“POLICE have obtained an order to restrict a right-wing group’s protests over the serving of halal meat at Blackburn’s Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Officers acted after seven nights of demonstrations kicked off with scenes of disorder as 50 English Defence League protestors descended on the Haslingden Road restaurant.”
October 20 2010: Blackburn KFC demo ‘chicken’ is attack bird
“A ‘DANGEROUS’ man who left his victim with a permanent brain injury has been released from jail early and is taking part in English Defence League protests.
…
Under the nickname ‘Mr B’, he has been central to the Blackburn EDL’s recent demonstrations outside the KFC in Haslingden Road, Blackburn, dressed as a yellow chicken.”
Here’s his FB page.
Seems a lovely lad…. not! Am I surprised that at least one of the protesters is a thug? No.
It turns out the chicken above is a Facebook friend of W Anker.
More to follow…
Posted: 22nd, October 2010 | In: The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
