BRENNANS BREAD, ONE of the largest bakeries in Ireland, is not applying for halal certification, despite claims on social media. 

Many comments making this claim featured a screenshot that reads “Brennan Bakeries receives Halal certification”.

One version, posted with the caption “Islam Ireland” on 18 March by J K Lunden — an activist who has protested Covid restrictions, the SPHE curriculum in schools, as well as LGBT+ books in libraries — was viewed more than 185,100 times.

However, the screenshot is old. The webpage it is from is still available online and shows a Halal certificate for all the breads produced by Brennans, dated 1 June 2017.

“This certificate is valid until 1st of June 2018 and subject to renewal at that time” [sic], it reads.

Nevertheless, claims about Brennans becoming halal certified spread widely online in recent weeks, including in posts made by a councillor for the Clondalkin local electoral area in Dublin – near the Brennans bakery in Walkinstown.

“I have emailed Brennans Bread and Glanmore Foods asking why they are embracing halal,” Independent Ireland councillor Linda de Courcy wrote on X on 20 March.

She also included a link to another X post from an Irish conspiracy theorist about protests over animal cruelty at a halal factory in England.

“Many restaurants and takeaways in Ireland are serving you halal meat unbeknownst to customers,” that 14 March post reads. “Reject this abominable practice. It has no place in this country.”

In Islam, Muslims are asked to follow halal food standards, which outline which foods can be consumed, and under what circumstances.

Certain foods that are not considered halal, and which Muslims are guided not to consume, include pork, reptiles, insects, and alcohol.

Animals which have died in a manner other than slaughtering methods outlined in Islamic Law are also not seen as halal.

The Department of Halal Certification, an organisation supervised by the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland, outlines that halal slaughter involves killing the animal with a sharp knife to the throat.

De Courcy appears to have been responding to online claims that surged in the days before her post on X, which claimed that Brennans was either halal certified or had applied for such certification.

“Brennans Bread now Halal Approved!” an 18 March post on X reads. “Won’t be buying their Bread anymore.

“Going to make myself a nice Ham sandwich now with my non approve[d] Halal bread”.

Other posts appeared to be more explicitly anti-Muslim, or claimed that halal food was part of a plan by non-white people to take control of the country or culture.

“Brennans selling Halal Anti Christ bread, Boycott”, says a 20 March post on X.

“This is what I think of Brennans and their halal certification…” a 19 March post reads alongside a photo of rashers and sausages that were placed on a shop shelf by loaves of Brennans bread.

Posts condemning Brennans for supposedly being halal were also posted to Facebook, where they were viewed tens of thousands of times. 

Foods that do not contain meat or alcohol are generally considered halal, though certs are issued for baked goods to ensure that ingredients like non-halal lard aren’t used, or preservatives that have a non-halal animal source.

All products from Brennans Bakeries are suitable for vegetarians, and most (though not all) are suitable for vegans, containing no meat, eggs or dairy. A list of such products is available on their website.

As such, their products are unlikely to cause issues for most Muslim diets. Nevertheless, Brennans have not sought to renew their old halal certification.

“We can confirm that Brennans Bread have not applied for Halal Certification,” the company confirmed to The Journal.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is common in anti-immigrant groups in Ireland, which often spread false claims about them. Since the start of the year, The Journal has debunked claims Ireland is establishing a National Hijab Day, RTÉ is replacing the Angelus with a Muslim call to prayer, and that the largest mosque in the world is being built in Ireland.

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