About GB 8231
Stillmans (Somerset) Ltd is based in Taunton (TA2), England. The Food Standards Agency approves it for slaughtering animals, cold storage and cutting meat, for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses.
Is meat from GB 8231 halal?
The code shows which plant slaughtered, cut or packed the meat, not whether it is halal. It is approved to handle pigs as well as other animals, so check the halal certification on the pack carefully. Look for a halal logo from a named certifier, such as HMC or HFA, or ask the brand which certifier approves the product. More in halal meat codes.
What this approval means for halal
A slaughterhouse approval means animals are killed and dressed here. This is the step where halal is decided: how the animal is slaughtered, whether it is stunned first, who performs the slaughter and which certifier monitors it.
A cold store keeps chilled or frozen products. It does not cut, prepare or slaughter, so its approval says nothing about how the meat was produced.
A cutting plant cuts carcasses into joints and portions. It does not slaughter animals, so the meat arrives from a slaughterhouse and the halal question moves upstream: where the meat came from, and whether halal meat is kept apart from non-halal meat while it is cut.
What to ask before you rely on it
- Is the slaughter here halal certified, and by which body?
- Are animals stunned before slaughter, and does your certifier accept that?
- Are halal and non-halal animals kept apart?
- Are halal-certified products stored separately and labelled?
- Which slaughterhouses supply this plant, and are they halal certified?
- Is halal meat cut on separate lines or at separate times from non-halal meat?
Ask the brand on the pack, or the halal certifier named on it. Plants rarely publish this, so a written answer from the brand is the best evidence.
Meat plants in the area
The TA postcode area has 7 approved meat plants in the Food Standards Agency list, 4 of them slaughterhouses and 7 cutting plants. England has 731 in total.