Since its inception in 1982, IFANCA has worked to strengthen its community through public service. This year too, as in years past, IFANCA teamed up with AMAL to deliver turkeys to families in need, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Donations were collected from the community via 'Paypal' and almost 600 turkeys were purchased from Cargill Meat Solutions for distribution, this year. IFANCA also provides financial assistance to qualified and deserving college students, and distributes Zakat money to Chicago-area needy Muslims.

In the year 2003, IFANCA started a food pantry to provide non-perishable food to Chicago area deserving families of all faiths. Sabeel Pantry’s mission of "Reaching out to the Less Privileged" has been very effective as it has served 4880 families during 2005 to 2008, by giving away the food at its distribution center in Chicago, and through home deliveries to the house-bound. The success of this project is the result of generous donations from bakeries; canned and boxed items from the students & staff of Averroes Academy, MCC full time school, MSI Sunday school and the communities of ICC, ICCD through food drives.

Through out the year, IFANCA staff also fielded concerns from inmates from correctional institutions nationwide about halal meals and health care products, and assisted their management in establishing partial halal kitchens. Technical staff conducts seminars, workshops and slide presentations throughout the year to educate Muslims about permissible and forbidden ingredients in our consumables. The presentations are held regularly in Islamic centers, weekend & full time Islamic schools and neighborhood study circles.

Contrubuted by Dr. Farhat Quadri, IFANCA Director of Community Services

True or False

1. All 8500 prisoners in the New Zealand prison system eat Halal-certified meat.
2. Almulla Hospitality is branding itself as the world’s first Shariah and halal compliant chain of international hotels.
3. Two nascent emerging trends in Australia are halal grocery stores and halal tourism.
4. A freezer at the N.E. Arkansas Food Bank, which is part of the Feeding America network, has been named "Nestlé" in honor of the company's support.

1. True. It does not cost the department any more to buy food from a halal-credited supplier, despite extra costs associated with halal certification. New Zealand Islamic Meat Management and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand provide halal certification in New Zealand.
2. True. Chairman of Dubai-based Almulla Hospitality, Abdullah Mohamed Almulla announced a budget of US$ 2 billion to boost their branding as the world's first Shariah and halal compliant chain of international hotels.
3. False. Two important emerging industries in Australia are Islamic education and Islamic finance. Islamic education in Australia is fast growing with more than 20 Islamic colleges around the country. The Muslim Community Cooperative (Australia) Ltd is one of Australia's largest Islamic finance and investment organizations.
4. True. IFANCA client, Nestlé USA, has partnered with Feeding America (formerly named America’s Second Harvest) since 1997. Recently, Nestlé USA made a multi-year financial donation to the N.E. Arkansas Food Bank, which is part of the Feeding America network. They have named their freezer "Nestlé" in honor of Nestlé's support.

Nestlé Expects European Halal Market To Grow

Nestlé's vice-president and chief executive officer Frits van Dijk announced this month, that the halal food sector in Europe is set to grow by 20-25% by 2020. The IFANCA client is currently the world's leading manufacturer of halal food, a sector which has a global value of €44 billion. But the increase in halal trade is not confined to Europe. Earlier this month, Nestlé published a paper titled "The Growing Significance of Halal in Global Market Expansion". Meanwhile, in New Zealand companies have been urged to take into consideration the growing demand for halal products. According to the most recent census in the country, there are 37,000 Muslims in New Zealand, making up almost one per cent of the country's total population.

Source:http://www.ingredientsnetwork.com/news-content/full/nestle-expects-european-halal-market-to-grow.

Halal Cosmetics Makes The News

Halal cosmetics is still in its infancy but UK based Saaf Pure Skincare, the first ever line of organic, halal cosmetics and its newer halal cosmetics rival, OnePure, were both profiled in the international media this fall. "There are pork derivatives and alcohol in most cosmetics products, so Muslims should really use something else," Layla Mandi, Founder of OnePure said. Her products are sold on Saudi Airlines, online and in Dubai. According to the founder of Saaf, Dr Mah Hussain Gambles, as a Muslim woman committed to halal products, using and manufacturing halal cosmetics was only a natural step. "Halal isn’t limited to what is consumed as food but also applies to what is put on our skin because up to 60% of it is absorbed into our body," she says. The ingredients in her products include black seed oil, safflower, shea butter, ylang ylang and other botanicals. Saaf products are available in the UK and Malaysia. Neither company has been certified as halal by IFANCA.