A report published this week by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said 51% of cows slaughtered by traditional Jewish (shechita) methods during a survey by the Food Standards Agency were rejected as not meeting religious requirements but "fit for wider consumption".
Forty-three per cent of shechita-slaughtered sheep were also rejected.
When the same survey into slaughterhouses was conducted in 2018, 15% of cattle and 27% of sheep slaughtered for kosher meat were rejected.
Additionally, the hindquarters of cattle, sheep and goats slaughtered by shechita are not considered kosher and are routinely sold on the non-Jewish market. The report said kosher food business operators provided:
no meaningful information" when asked about the destination of meat from the hindquarters. It said it is "unclear whether hind quarters are sent on for wider consumption.
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