Ensuring Halal in Industrial Environments

Ritual slaughter is therefore not always authorized, but even when it is, it is very difficult to guarantee that a product labeled halal exclusively contains halal ingredients. Here is a summary of the practical difficulties in certifying meats as halal:

• Even before slaughter, the significant risk of poultry mortality during transport or between the moment they are hung on the line and bleeding can render the poultry haram.
• Stunning, generally practiced in slaughterhouses, often causes the death of animals, which renders the animal haram. Stunning is also often practiced on animals intended for the halal market.
• The vast majority of slaughterhouses producing halal meat are not dedicated to halal. This creates a risk of mixing meats.
• Often, the meats are then transported to CEVs, which are similarly rarely dedicated to halal. The risk of mixing with non-halal meats, especially pork, is very significant because at this stage the meats are often cut, mixed, processed, etc.
• Within these CEVs, other ingredients and additives are added and mixed to produce ground beef, deli meats, and other processed products. It is essential to ensure that these ingredients are indeed halal.

A solution: halal certification

Given these difficulties and the divergent interests of the various stakeholders in the halal market, a solution is gradually emerging: halal certification. However, halal certification is a vague concept that conceals practices that are, to say the least, heterogeneous. It is therefore necessary, first, to understand the religious conditions for halal certification, in order to form an opinion on the practices.

Certification refers to the conditions of testimony in Islam. These conditions vary depending on the case in which this testimony is given, but certain general principles apply to the witness:

• Piety
• Integrity
• Sound mind (mental faculty, age…)
• Competence (understanding the subject)
• Presence (attending production)

Let us also recall these words of the Prophet (*) warning us against false statements. One day, he was sitting with his Companions and asked them three times:

“Shall I inform you about the gravest of the major sins?” His companions all replied, “Certainly, Messenger of Allah!” He said, “It is associating partners with Allah (shirk) and disrespect towards parents.” While he was reclining, he suddenly sat upright and continued, “And false testimony!” The narrator of this hadith then said, “He repeated this last phrase so much that we wished he would stop.” [Bukhari, Muslim]

The Prophet ﷺ also said on another occasion:

“Whoever does not abandon false statements and deceitful actions has no need to abandon his food and drink (unlawful).” [Bukhari]


Testimony is therefore a sensitive subject that is carefully conditioned in Islam. In the context of halal certification, the same applies, and each of the aforementioned requirements refers to specific criteria. Thus, ritual slaughter and halal production should be carried out in the presence of Muslim controllers who are capable, honest, and trained in the rules of ritual slaughter and halal production.

In summary, here are the criteria to check, keeping in mind that the ideal is to visit certain slaughterhouses and CEVs controlled by various organizations to get a precise idea:

• Are the controllers independent (not employed by the slaughterhouse)?
  • Check the number of employees of the organization
• Are the controllers Muslim?
  • Check the organization’s charter
• Are the controllers permanently present at the production sites?
  • Check the organization’s charter
• Does the organization accept stunning for cattle and poultry (with sheep being a point of divergence)?
  • Check the organization’s charter
• Are the controllers trained?
  • Check the organization’s charter
• Does the organization have a secure traceability system?
  • Check the organization’s charter.