The European Parliament has voted in favour of a new regulation which will see kosher meat labelled as “meat from slaughter without stunning” in a move which Jewish bodies fear is “discriminatory”.

The decision was made today as part of a proposal for a regulation on the provision of food information to consumers.

Around 70 per cent of an animal killed by shechita is consumed by the non-kosher market and Henry Grunwald QC, chairman of Shechita UK, the lobby organisation which defends religious slaughter, said the decision will have a serious impact on the kosher meat industry.

He said: “This ill-conceived amendment discriminates against kosher food and will have a significant impact on the kosher meat industry across Europe.

“The Jewish community is fully supportive of providing consumers with information about the origins of their food and we urged MEPs that if they wanted to label meat and meat products, labels should include those killed by electrocution, shooting, gassing or clubbing as well as the many millions of animals that are mis-stunned during the stunning process.

“To pick on one method is suspicious, troubling and discriminatory.”