During the latest fuss about halal and kosher slaughter, proponents have gone on about the need to completely drain a carcase of blood. Clearly this is demanded by the religious rules they adhere to, but they regularly claim that it is a matter of hygiene. Obviously the blood has to go somewhere and be contained but the implication seems to be that leaving blood in the meat is harmful, causing it to be full of toxins or failing to flush out "toxins caused by death". Is there any truth in this? Google seems to know only about the ritual aspects of draining.
It's clearly not going to be possible to drain all the blood from arterioles and venules, let alone capillaries and as a child I loved to eat black puddings so clearly there's nothing intrinsically wrong with eating blood, even in large quantities. (I was once told in a lecture, btw, that much of the protein in commercial pate is from haemoglobin from which the haem has been removed to leave the globin )
So: does anyone here know whether there's really any need to drain animals of blood, beyond stopping it flowing out and becoming a nuisance?
TIA

I've definitely read advice not to drink blood when travelling, but I can't find anything telling me why it's a bad idea.

I'm guessing raw blood, like many raw foods are a health hazard in certain countries, simply because the standards we adhere to aren't met. The same way you shouldn't use ice or drink tap water in many countries. I mean, blood was once flowing through a living thing and living things tend to be full of other things that might kill you, or make you sick.

Fair point but that's pretty much on a par with avoiding pork because of trichinosis. Shouldn't be a problem in the UK - but what about the allegations of... I suppose endotoxins... or other vile things produced at death by the animal's body itself? If the blood is flushing them out, those black puddings should have done for me when I was a vulnerable child!

Blood agar is commonly used in microbiol labs because it is a terrific growth medium for bacteria. So in hot countries where fridges are not used meat with a lot of blood in it could be potentially dangerous if left for long without cooking. But like the religious bollocks about pork, if the meat is inspected properly, and other hygiene measures taken [including refridgeration], there is no need to slaughter the Halal way. It just means the animal suffers needlessly just to satisfy some stone-age religious wankery.

Well, at least human blood is a potent emeticum. You wouldn't believe the projectile vomiting, so there's that.
I suppose, that since blood quickly spoils it could pose a risk if left in the meat in larger quantities, if you don't have access to refrigeration. Blood is a tremendous substrate for all kinds of nasty creepy crawlies. I mean, we let meat bleed out in slaughterhouses for that reason. It's just that we do this after the animal is stunned.

Even raw blood shouldn't be that big of a deal, considering that many a cattle herding tribe in Africa uses cow blood "fresh from the tap" for sustenance on a regular basis.

Darwinsbulldog wrote: there is no need to slaughter the Halal way. It just means the animal suffers needlessly just to satisfy some stone-age religious wankery.

But it tastes so much more yummy when the animal has been slaughtered the Halal way, just read the comments for the KFC in Mecca:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant ... vince.html

Sounds like BS to support their cult weirdness. Westerners scoff humongous amounts of red meat every year so I suspect any problems over and above the accepted risks would have been obvious by now.

Mazille wrote:I mean, we let meat bleed out in slaughterhouses for that reason. It's just that we do this after the animal is stunned.

Well, yes, there is that, and as far as I understand it the red colour in "bloody" meat, whatever way the beast is slaughtered is not really blood anyway it's myoglobin not heamoglobin. There's very little heamoglobin content in muscle, real blood is only in the veins, arteries and capillaries isn't it?.

Very true.

dunno, but spoilage seems likely. although there's little blood in most meat after slaughter, one exception is the liver, which will ooze for days if left to itself, and that is blood. liver tends to go "off" quicker than other cuts.

Blood in meat makes meat taste lousy. It has to do with oxidation.