Mohammed Ayub Khan
Albawaba.com
Illinois Governor George Ryan has signed a bill that effectively creates the Halal Food Act, which will allow the state's department of agriculture to verify the claims of establishments that to sell halal food.
With the signing of this bill into law, Illinois becomes the third state, after New Jersey and Minnesota, to regulate the booming halal food industry.
"Muslims are valued members of our communities and this official recognition by the state reflects Illinois' commitment to supporting the interests of all citizens," Governor Ryan said. "This law will give Muslims in Illinois confidence that the halal food products they buy are indeed prepared according to Islamic law."
The Halal Food Act brings much needed relief to Illinois' more than 450,000 Muslims, who for decades have been victims of dishonest businessmen who will sell them the regular non-halal meat as halal at exorbitant prices.
Munir Chaudry of the internationally recognized halal certification agency Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America welcomed the move by the governor and expressed his full support for the Halal Act.
The council has offered its full support and cooperation towards the implementation of this law by the state and other regulatory agencies.
The Halal Food Act, which will be enforced from January 1, 2002, will make it a Class B misdemeanor for any person to make any oral or written statement that directly or indirectly tends to deceive or otherwise lead a reasonable individual to believe that a non-halal food or food product is halal.
The act also makes it unlawful for any business, which advertises itself as selling only halal foods or food products only, to carry any non-halal products.
Stiff fines will be imposed on any person making deceptive statements or falsely representing that a non-halal food product is halal.
The act specifically defines the term "halal" as food "prepared under and maintained in strict compliance with the laws and customs of the Islamic religion including but not limited to those laws and customs of zabiha/zabeeha (slaughtered according to appropriate Islamic code), and as expressed by reliable recognized Islamic entities and scholars."
Senator Christine Radogno (R-La Grange), the bill's chief sponsor in the Illinois legislature, said, "This law protects our Muslim communities from fraud and provides recognition to the emerging presence of Muslim culture and traditions in Illinois."
"Muslims feel proud about the unanimous bipartisan support of the Halal Food Act, and see it as an historical manifestation of the public and political recognition of the Muslim community in Illinois, which numbers around 450,000," said Sabri Samirah, president of United Muslim Americans Association and the driving force behind the passage of the Halal Act.
Senate Bill 750 was sponsored in by Senators Christine Radogno, R-La Grange, Laurence Walsh, D-Elwood, Barack Obama, D-Chicago, Louis Viverito, D-Burbank, and Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago and Representatives Tom Dart, D-Chicago, Eileen Lyons, R-Western Springs, Gwenn Klinger, R-Springfield, and Anne Zickus, R-Palos Hills.
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