Star ledger
Dear Editor:
RE:
Where the meat meets Muslim standard
May 3, 2006
Two issues arise from your
story on Halal food establishments. A Muslim, if true to his religious
beliefs, is not permitted to sell but Halal foods. Some Muslims,
however, claim economic hardship for the practice of selling pork or
liquor. Islam permits such deviation only under extreme and time limited
situations but not as a long-term business enterprise. The other point is,
unlike kosher laws and restrictions; the NJ Halal law lacks enforcement,
enforceable specific set of guidelines and penalties, and above all, public
awareness of its existence.
I visited one of the sites
you covered in your story and found their Halal food offering both limited
and of questionable adherence to the dietary requirements of Muslim
consumers. The NJ Halal law, enacted with much fanfare in 2001, ensures
access to information to consumers when they buy and consume products.
Because observant Muslims would pay more for the same product if assured of
its Halal certification, many vendors have misrepresented their products as
being Halal. In the restaurant I visited, their is no evidence that
utensils are not used interchangeably between Halal and non-Halal foods.
There is no visible certification that the meats and other cooking products
are similarly certified.
We did a random survey of
all the Halal butcher shops in Paterson and estimated their daily sales at
around 300 sheep or goats. When we called the certified Muslim Slaughter
shops in NJ, we found that their average daily sales are around 160 sheep
and goat. Where the other 140 come from, no one knows.
It may come as a surprise
to some, but the largest Halal food processing company in North America,
known as Al-Safa, is actually owned by non-Muslims. True, there are national
certifying agencies, which are supposed to ensure strict adherence to the
Islamic dietary laws. But such agencies thrive on producing more
certifications allowing for possible deviations from acceptable standards
which themselves are a source of contention amongst the different Muslim
sects or schools.
The NJ Halal law sounds a
great idea but it lacks enforcement, leaving the door wide open for
misrepresentation and consumer fraud.
Aref Assaf, President
American Arab Forum
Paterson,
NJ
Read the article in the Star Ledger:
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1146669308204860.xml?starledger?nnj&coll=1
