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What is this Halal About?

By Allison Burch, July 31, 2011  |  Meet the Blogger  |  More Posts by Allison Burch
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS KERI FROM AUSTIN, TX, SUDHA FROM MINNEAPOLIS, MN, MICHELE FROM LOUISVILLE, KY, CHARLOTTE FROM EUCLID, OH AND JESSICA FROM HALETHROPE, MD.  THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS! Have you heard of halal? If so, you can skip ahead to the end and enter to win coupons for some tasty, convenient halal-certified prepared foods from Saffron Road. But if you’re scratching your head and asking, “What is this halal about?” Read on! Halal is Islamic dietary law that applies, among other things, to meat and poultry, specifically prescribing certain slaughtering and processing practices. Like some other religious dietary practice, halal prohibits pork and alcohol consumption. In order to provide more options to people following a halal diet, Saffron Road has created the first line of certified halal frozen entrees and they’re currently only available here at Whole Foods Market. Saffron Road features ethnic foods with Indian, Asian and Middle Eastern flavors, as well as chicken nuggets and tenders. All of their products are made with lamb and chicken raised on vegetarian diets, with no added hormones or antibiotics. Plus, all of their products are certified halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). Whether you eat halal because of your religious dietary guidelines or you simply prefer to choose food that’s made with high-quality, responsibly farmed ingredients, then Saffron Road has some tasty offerings for you. Take a look:

Lemongrass Basil Chicken

Roasted white-meat chicken simmered in a lemongrass and basil green curry with green peppers and onions.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Prepared with tender, boneless, chicken, and baked according to authentic traditions with freshly-ground tandoori spices simmered in a savory yogurt and tomato sauce.

Chicken Biryani

Traditionally prepared by cooking Basmati rice with succulent chunks of chicken, cashews and raisins infused with an unmistakable blend of enticing spices, aromas and flavors, including a pinch of saffron salt.

Moroccan Stew

Tender cubes of lamb slowly simmered with sweet potatoes, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and ginger until every drop is perfection. Since it tops delicious couscous, no drop is wasted.

Lamb Saag

Australian lamb slow-simmered with a blend of Indian spices, ginger and yogurt and served on a thick bed of savory Saag, a traditional spinach dish.

Lamb Vindaloo

A spicy Portuguese-Indian curry dish dating back to the 16th century. Australian lamb marinated in an exotic tamarind-infused curry sauce, cumin, hot Indian spices and yogurt, then slow simmered for hours until tender and tangy and served with Basmati rice.

Chicken Pad Thai

A delightful version of the Thai favorite featuring wide flat rice noodles topped with roasted white-meat chicken and simmered with carrots and scallions in an exotic peanut sauce.

Lamb Koftis

Lamb marinated in a secret recipe of the most classic spices, and then formed into traditional koftis, or meatballs. The finishing touch? It's served on a bed of aromatic long grain white rice.

Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Tenders, Chicken Bites and Tandoori Seasoned Chicken Nuggets

Made from the meat of chickens raised on a vegetarian diet and never given antibiotics, ever!

What a line up! Are you ready to try some Saffron Road? Good, because we're ready to give some away. We’ll pick five winners at random to receive five coupons for free Saffron Road entrees. To enter, leave a comment below by August 11 and tell us which of the entrees you’d try first and why.

 

291 Comments

Comments

Sarah says ...
do you know what is going on in the world today? we're at war with islam, jihad is going crazy and you are going to support this? Who's side are you on? Until you change your stance I will not be able to shop in your store any longer. And I will be telling a lot of people. You just lost a large portion of your consumer base. Many Christians, Messianics, and Jews will have nothing more to do with your store or your brands.
02/04/2012 8:46:14 PM CST
Ayesha says ...
I would love to try Lamb Koftis and chicken pad thai.... ahhh..why did not i know before that you have such delicious halal stuff...can't wait to try them... how to win a free coupon btw..?? ;-)
03/22/2012 8:11:38 PM CDT
janejohnson says ...
@Ayesha: Thanks for your comments! Unfortunately, you had to leave a comment by August 11th, 2011 in order to be eligible to win a coupon.
03/23/2012 10:05:00 AM CDT
Saba says ...
Thank you Whole Foods!!!
03/25/2012 9:18:59 PM CDT
Mariam says ...
Oh my god they've started making CHICKEN TENDERS? Sign me up!!!!
06/12/2012 8:49:33 AM CDT
Hasm says ...
I never tried Chicken Pad Thai in my life , I would love to try it from such a fantastic company which care about all the citizen of USA. Also, During slaughtering process of halal , It is made sure that all the blood of the animal is out of the body ,since it is not allowed for Muslims to consume blood and Scientifically it contain uric acid and excessive uric acid in body can cause kidney failure. Moreover , Halal certified animal never consume garbage (waste,pork,dust) and It should not be injured animal too with some defect. There are many points to mention , But these are few.
07/05/2012 9:54:55 PM CDT
Kari O says ...
I have never had lamb. I am too afraid to buy the meat myself and ruin it so the frozen lamb dinners are easy and cheap. It was delicious! So good and now I can say I have had lamb.
07/19/2012 1:48:52 PM CDT
Enrique says ...
I want Halal food, I tried all of them and they are the boom!!!
07/20/2012 9:56:02 AM CDT
ghani says ...
Thanks for a very informative article and awesome initiative, keep up the good work.
09/23/2012 6:12:09 PM CDT
Joseph Meyer says ...
I can't believe that halal slaughtering practices could possibly meet Whole Foods' animal compassion standards.
11/23/2012 11:32:09 PM CST
AnnMarie Baba says ...
I don't understand why you would market this when it has nothing to do with humane treatment of animals. It is in fact a very base way of slaughter and has no bearing on whether or not the food is organic. The slaughter is vulgar as is the religions treatment of non muslims.
02/05/2013 12:36:36 AM CST
Diana says ...
I just had the Lemongrass Basil Chicken for lunch and it was excellent. You can definitely tell the difference between this and other frozen meals. All my co-workers were extremely jealous. YUM!
03/14/2013 11:47:08 AM CDT
Salim abuAdam says ...
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart (and stomach) for offering the ~12 Million American Muslims a mainstream option, in a store that is well known for an amazing, well educated staff that knows in amazing detail what foodstuffs fill the shelves. Wise business decision since the majority of Muslims fit well within your target consumer demographic, but weren't really being served elsewhere. Way to corner the market!!! =0) ..........As a proud Military Veteran, Italian-American Muslim (yup), and Whole Foods Customer, I want to compliment the very positive tone of this blog with very few exceptions..........If it helps to share - Halal slaughtering techniques are quite similar to Kosher methods, however let me assure you that an Imam (prayer leader) isn't required, nor is anyone 'cursed' . The words (no 'blessing') roughly, require reflection to show respect for the animal who is sacrificing it's life for the continuation of ours. ..........The process is very clean - I can't think of a time when halal meat was affected by e-coli, salmonella, etc. at all. The process provides a higher quality and better taste...........That being said, I eat vegetarian about 50% of the time as a preference, so I would love to see Saffron Road offer more non-meat options along the same ethnic lines! Especially alcohol-free desserts!!! =0)..........Open a Whole Foods in Fremont, CA. All your SF Bay stores are so far away!!
03/18/2013 7:24:29 PM CDT
Salim abuAdam says ...
@Jonathan Freed - "Can a product be both Halal & Kashrut (Kosher)? Yes in fact that is possible. When we cannot find Halal meat (which comes up often at Thankgiving Turkey time), Muslims across the US either buy a Halal turkey from small local shops, or Kashrut/Kosher Turkeys from larger stores. So from the Muslim perspective, Kosher meat is Halal meat with very little exception......That being said, if a Rabbi recited Taurah along a Muslim it would in no way 'invalidate' the 'halalness' of the meat. Totally fine since we worship the exact same Lord. The slaughtering techniques and humane treatment of the animal prior to slaughter are the same.....In fact another very large Halal company in North America was founded by a Canadian Jew, with Muslim employees and ran that way for the first 10 years. No Muslims complained at all (to busy chewing!)... =0)
03/18/2013 7:48:59 PM CDT
Justine Abdelrahmen says ...
My husband and I have relocated to my home town Madison from New York City and have been trying to find halal markets. So far we are not too impressed with the items available. I am so excited that you are offering these new halal items that I am going to go right back to Whole Foods even though I was just there this morning!
03/26/2013 6:29:13 PM CDT
Hossein Sharifazadeh says ...
Hi I did not know that whole foods provides halal meat. Awesome.
05/14/2013 7:55:44 AM CDT

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