LISTED: The major restaurants and takeaways serving Halal food - and why

Several takeaway chains and restaurants across the UK now serve Halal meat in at least some of their outlets, and have done so for some time.

What is Halal?

In Arabic, the word Halal means “permitted” or “lawful” and defines anything that is allowed or lawful according to the Qur’an. It is often used in the context of food – especially meat – to indicate that the food has been prepared in accordance with Muslim principles and techniques.

EU law requires animals for the food chain to be stunned (made unconscious) prior to killing, so that death should be painless, although there is an exception for religious slaughter.

However, many restaurants still require that Halal slaughter involves stunning first, and the majority of Halal slaughter in the UK involves stunning according to the RSPCA.

A report from the animal charity in 2012 states that 90% of sheep and 97% of cattle slaughtered using Halal methods in the UK were stunned first.

The restaurants serving Halal food

Nando's

The cheeky chicken eatery serves Halal meat in 73 out of its 402 restaurants, almost one in four, and seven Nando's in Yorkshire serve only Halal food, including two in Leeds.

Nando's Chains in Yorkshire serving only Halal chicken:

* Leeds - The Light

* Leeds - Cardigan Fields

* Sheffield Valley Centertainment

* Wakefield

* Bradford Centenary Square

* Bradford Leisure Exchance

* Huddersfield

What Nando's says:

"We have 402 restaurants, 73 of which serve only Halal chicken and are signposted both in the restaurant and online. A small proportion of chicken sold in our other restaurants may also be Halal.

"This may happen on rare occasions if there are, for example, issues with supply. However, all of our chickens are packaged, labelled and distributed to their intended restaurant. We continue to look at ways to offer chicken dishes which are guaranteed to be non-Halal. "

Subway