International Shia News Agency

US Lamb Producers Target Muslim Taste

SHAFAQNA –  In a move to attract more sales and customers, a group of lamb and sheep meat producers in the US are turning to growing American Muslim population to expand their business. “For years, however, Americans have generally not included lamb in their menus, with the average American eating a half-pound of lamb a year” said Luke Runyon of Harvest Public Media and KUNC in northern Colorado, Pakistan Today reported on Sunday.

According to a report aired on National Public Radio this week, the American Lamb Board hopes it can lure the 5.7 million Muslims living in America and their $98 billion spending power.

Meeting halal procedures, Megan Wortman, the executive director of the American Lamb Board, said that the board’s members have planned large media campaigns for “pasture-to-plate lamb” in Muslim hotspots such as Detroit, Chicago and New York.

The campaign, if successful, is expected to increase the sales of lamb meet in the US, where Americans consume about a half-pound of lamb a year.

On the other hand, they eat 50 pounds of beef and almost 90 pounds of chicken annually.

Although there are no official figures, the United States is believed to be home to between 6-8 million Muslims.

According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Research Center, “the majority of U.S. residents do not consume any lamb.”

The concept of halal, — meaning permissible in Arabic — has traditionally been applied to food.

Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.

Halal food is consumed not only by 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, but also by at least 500 million non-Muslims.

Source : onislam.net

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