Health Concerns Raised Over Additives in Popular Halal Meat Products

On the back of the packaging of a package of halal "Turkey Delight" from the Isla Délice brand bought in a supermarket, Faïza Ghraïri inquires about the ingredients: "halal turkey meat (EU origin) 68.7%", she begins to read. "68%, that’s not much anyway! And what’s the rest?", wonders the boss of the Molati halal butcher-charcuterie in Roubaix. Then, water, potato starch, soy proteins. "I don’t put water in my chicken breasts," she says.

We find almost the same composition at Réghalal, Isla Délices’ competitor: 67% turkey, water, soy protein and, instead of potato starch, corn starch. "Me, I already use chicken thighs and fillets. It’s more expensive but it’s less dry than turkey," Faïza Ghraïri confides to the newspaper Le Parisien. In addition to salt and sugar, the "Turkey Delight" contains six additives, including stabilizers, antioxidants and preservatives. "They remain chemical products that we put in our bodies so it’s not necessarily good for our health," she points out.

The butcher-charcutier also warns about the presence in this product of E250, sodium nitrite. "This additive is a huge risk factor for colorectal cancers, the second most deadly cancer," she specifies. Yet, the majority of industrialists no longer use this additive in the preparation of traditional pork hams. A situation of double standards that Faïza Ghraïri denounces: "It’s a shame."

"I was trained with traditional artisans who sell pork. Pork ham, it’s part of French culture, it’s our heritage! It’s great!", she recounts. And to add: "But my parents came from Tunisia to work. So I discovered charcuterie very late. I had friends who made ham sandwiches and me I was like: "Mom! That looks good, that!" And she would answer me: "But no, you can’t, it’s pork." And that’s how the industrialists understood that there was a huge market with halal charcuterie. And among these people, there are people who want their share of the cake and who are unscrupulous... I think we’re going to have to wake up."