France: Possible French parliamentary debate on Halal meats?

Eight French municipal representatives have made a request for a parliamentary commission on the halal meat market following a polemical documentary aired by Canal + at the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

Turkey: Certified Halal Food Sector’s 2nd Meeting in Turkey

2nd Halal and Healthy Products Fair, its only example in Turkey, will be held at the CNR Expo Istanbul on 13-16 October 2011. The 4th International Halal and Nutricious Food Conference “Importance of a global single standard for increasing Halal food trade” will also be held during the event.

USA: 3rd Annual Muslim Consumer Conference (AMCC)

The 3rd AMCC will be held on Saturday, October 29th at Hotel Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey.The conference is held annually attracting attendees from the food industry, entrepreneurs, professionals, and marketing/advertising/PR executives.

France: No longer niche, Halal food finds mass market

French retailers and food manufacturers are realizing there’s money to be made by embracing halal, food produced according to Islamic law. Though sales tend to spike during Ramadan, halal is very much a year-round market.

USA: Helping the Halal consumer

Muslim Americans want to purchase the same products as every other American – they just want them to be unquestionably halal. The number of American Muslims is slated to reach 16 million by 2014 and American Muslim consumers are looking ahead.

UK: Stunning Arguments

When it comes to halal, it’s all about trust, according to some in the trade, but with a lack of labelling and the constant debate over stunning, that trust might be hard to come by.

Thailand:THAI operates certified Halal Food kitchen

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) has received authorization from the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand for the use of the Halal Logo and HAL-Q symbol.

France: Clamour for health drives French chilled foods

Chilled processed food was one of the best performers within the broader French packaged food market in both value and volume terms in 2010. Sales were underpinned by strong demand for natural products beneficial to health and wellbeing, combined with increased innovation and consumers eating in more regularly.

UK: New Company, Jealous, Launches Halal Sweet Range For All

Sweet lovers in the UK now have more choice to enjoy as a new range of high-end boxed sweets, made purely from natural ingredients and suitable for people with dietary or ethical requirements, has launched.

Malaysia: Business as usual for bakeries despite losses due to non-halal butter

KUCHING: The declaration that Golden Churn Creamery butter is non-halal has cost some bakeries here big losses but they are taking it in their stride.

Malaysia: Jakim Responds To MCA President’s Allegations

All samples of products for halal certification are sent for analysis at the Chemistry Department, which has been accredited for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, said Malaysian Islam Development Department (Jakim) director-general Osman Mustapha.

Russia: Most consumers of Halal products in Moscow have no relation to Islam

Halal products volume in Russia is growing 30-40 percent annually, the Halal Standard Committee at the Tatarstan Islamic High Council said based on research outcomes.

UAE: Is Ramadan a month of fasting, or feasting?

Although there are no figures available for Dubai, the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi released figures in August 2010 showing that approximately 500 tonnes of food gets thrown away in the capital during Ramadan. An unholy amount of food gets wasted during Ramadan as hotels outdo each other in putting up huge iftar spreads comprising 40-50 dishes that leave patrons biting off more than they can chew.

USA: American Muslims stand out as a multicultural market with significant opportunities

American Muslims are the most diverse religious group in America according to Magali Rheault, Senior Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. The American Muslim Consumer Conference (AMCC) promotes dialog and raises awareness of this multicultural niche where many mainstream companies are now seeing a growing opportunity.

USA: Dow Jones Islamic Markets Indexes in July 2011: Islamic Finance and the debt discussion

The DJIM U.S. Titans 50 Index, which measures the performance of 50 Islamic halal U.S. blue chips, closed down 1.04% for July, while the conventional bellwether, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, ended the month lower by 2.18%. Meanwhile, the flight of capital into “safe havens” such as gold and the Swiss franc intensified.

Opinion: London’s historic connections to Islam

Professor Jack Lohman, director of the Museum of London, gave a talk on London’s historical connections to the Arab world. A good bulk of the talk, however, went into the history of the Muslim presence in this city. Today, at the beginning of Ramadan, it is great to see the vibrancy that that history has led to.

Opinion: Can GM Foods Be ‘Halal’? Or Kosher?

Back in December 2010, a conference held in Penang, Malaysia with biotechnology experts and halal proponents ended with the conclusion that genetically modified food was halal ( ‘permissible’ for Muslims) as long as the sources from which they originate from are halal. This decision – which was accompanied by a fatwa declaring GM halal – came as a shock to some in the wider Muslim community who consider GM a deviation from god’s creation.

Malaysia: Golden Churn butter confirmed to contain pig DNA

The Jakim halal certification logo on the Golden Churn Creamery Butter product will be withdrawn now that it has been confirmed to be non-halal. A test in June this year through the Chemistry Department found that the sample analysed contained pig DNA.