Malaysia’s halal safeguards are under scrutiny after filthy conditions and suspected slaughtering breaches at a chicken plant sparked demands to explain how it ignored warnings and operated for years without certification.

The hygiene failures at the Puchong facility came to light after authorities seized more than 6.5 tonnes of chicken during a raid last week.

The factory, which processes more than 40,000 chickens daily and supplies businesses across the Klang Valley in Kuala Lumpur, is accused of killing the birds by electric shocks before slaughter, breaching Islamic requirements. Police were still establishing the plant’s actual output and distribution network.

Islamic rules permit electrical water-bath stunning of poultry provided it does not kill the birds, according to Malaysia’s Federal Territories mufti’s office, making their condition at slaughter central to whether the meat is halal – permissible for consumption by Muslims.

Blood and feathers on dirty floors, alongside chicken storage containers infested with maggots and flies, were also spotted at the plant, Sinar Harian reported.

Senior police official Muhammad Abdul Halim said investigators found electrical settings of 60 volts and 130 volts in the plant’s water-bath stunning system, far above the limit prescribed by Selangor’s religious authorities, which allegedly caused chickens to die before slaughter.

Muhammad said the plant operated for more than a decade and received repeated notices from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), but it refused to comply, according to state news agency Bernama.

“We are also identifying the entire supply and distribution network, including the premises receiving chicken supplies from the plant,” he said.

Authorities detained 12 foreign workers and recorded a statement from the plant’s Malaysian owner. Selangor Islamic Religious Council chairman Salehuddin Saidin said the premises had been ordered shut for two weeks and restaurants should immediately stop using its chicken.

“This means they were essentially slaughtering carcasses rather than live chickens, as required under Islamic teachings,” Salehuddin told reporters. The uproar over the butchering process also echoed in parliament on Monday.

“Who owns this company? Why was no action taken before?”Salamiah Mohd Nor, a lawmaker from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said.

She asked Jakim how the business operated for years without halal certification and how the agency traced potentially non-halal chicken and withdrew it from shops and restaurants.

Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan told parliament on Monday that the halal permit was voluntary and the uncertified plant’s operating and sales records consequently fell outside Jakim and state religious departments’ certification monitoring.

He said oversight required cooperation between agencies responsible for different aspects of the business, including local licensing, and pledged stronger joint inspections and information sharing.

“Any party found to have violated the law will face action in accordance with the regulations and laws currently in force,” he told Bernama.

The revelations also follow a separate controversy last month over viral footage of chicken processing in Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, showing blood and waste water pooling on the floor, according to local broadcaster Astro Awani.

Jakim later said the plant lacked halal certification and had already been ordered to close over health violations, local media reported. Halal meat scandals are not uncommon in Malaysia.

In February 2023, supplier LY Frozen Food was fined 1.5 million ringgit (US$368,000) after pleading guilty to seven charges involving fake halal logos.

In 2020, imported frozen meat repackaged with false halal markings prompted investigations into the integrity of supplies sold to Muslim consumers.