Illinois Halal Food Law

State of Illinois

92nd General Assembly Legislation

AN ACT in relation to public health.

Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Halal Food Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

“Advertise” means to engage in promotional activities including, but not limited to, newspaper, radio, Internet and electronic media, and television advertising; the distribution of fliers and circulars; and the display of window and interior signs.

“Food”, “food product”, or “food commodity” means any food, food product, or food preparation, whether raw or prepared for human consumption, and whether in a solid or liquid state, including, but not limited to, any meat, meat product or meat preparation; any milk, milk product or milk preparation; and any beverage.

“Food commodity in package form” means a food commodity put up or packaged in any manner in advance of sale in units suitable for retail sale and which is not intended for consumption at the point of manufacture.

“Halal” means 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.

Section 10. Deception prohibited.

(a) It is 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.

(b) The presence of any non-halal food or food product in any place of business that advertises or represents itself in any manner as selling, offering for sale, preparing, or serving halal food or food products only, is presumptive evidence that the person in possession offers the food or food product for sale in violation of subsection (a).

(c) It shall be a complete defense to a prosecution under subsection (a) that the defendant relied in good faith upon the representations of an animals’ farm, slaughterhouse, manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor, or any person or organization which certifies or represents any food or food product at issue to be halal or as having been prepared under or sanctioned by Islamic religious requirements.

Section 15. Other offenses concerning halal food. It is a Class B misdemeanor for any person to:

(1) falsely represent any animal sold, grown, or offered for sale to be grown in a halal way to become food for human consumption;

(2) falsely represent any food sold, prepared, served, or offered for sale to be halal;

(3) remove or destroy, or cause to be removed or destroyed, the original means of identification affixed to food commodities to indicate that the food commodities are halal, except that this paragraph (3) may not be construed to prevent the removal of the identification if the commodity is offered for sale as non-halal;

(4) sell, dispose of, or have in his or her possession for the purpose of resale as halal any food commodity to which an animals’ farm or slaughterhouse mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of identification has been fraudulently attached;

(5) label or identify a food commodity in package form to be halal or possess such labels or means of identification, unless he or she is the manufacturer or packer of the food commodity in package form;

(6) label or identify an article of food not in package form to be halal or possess such labels or other means of identification, unless he or she is the manufacturer of the article of food;

(7) falsely label any food commodity in package form as halal by having or permitting to be inscribed on it, in any language, the words “halal” or “helal”, or any other words or symbols, not limited to characters in Arabic writing, which would tend to deceive or otherwise lead a reasonable individual to believe that the commodity is halal;

(8) sell, offer for sale, prepare, or serve in or from the same place of business both unpackaged non-halal food and unpackaged food he or she represents to be halal unless he or she posts a window sign at the entrance of his or her establishment which states in block letters at least 4 inches in height: “Halal and Non-Halal Foods Sold Here”, or “Halal and Non-Halal Foods Served Here”, or a statement of similar import;

(9) sell or have in his or her possession for the purpose of resale as halal any food commodity not having affixed thereto the original animals’ farm or slaughterhouse mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of identification employed to indicate that the food commodity is halal; or (10) display for sale, in the same show window or other location on or in his or her place of business, both unpackaged food represented to be halal and unpackaged non-halal food unless he or she:

(A) displays over the halal and non-halal food signs that read, in clearly visible block letters, “halal food” and “non-halal food”, respectively, or, as to the display of meat alone, “halal meat” and “non-halal meat”, respectively;

(B) separates the halal food products from the non-halal food products by keeping the products in separate display cabinets, or by segregating halal items from non-halal items by use of clearly visible dividers; and

Section 90. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2KK as follows:

Sec. 2KK. Halal food; disclosure.

(a) As used in this Section:

“Dealer” means any establishment that advertises, represents, or holds itself out as growing animals in a halal way or selling, preparing, or maintaining food as halal, including, but not limited to, manufacturers, animals’ farms, slaughterhouses, wholesalers, stores, restaurants, hotels, catering facilities, butcher shops, summer camps, bakeries, delicatessens, supermarkets, grocery stores, licensed health care facilities, freezer dealers, and food plan companies. These establishments may also sell, prepare or maintain food not represented as halal.

“Director” means the Director of Agriculture.

“Food” means an animal grown to become food for human consumption, a food, a food product, a food ingredient, a dietary supplement, or a beverage.

“Halal” means 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/zebeeha (slaughtered according to appropriate Islamic codes), and as expressed by reliable recognized Islamic entities and scholars.

(b) Any dealer who grows animals represented to be grown in a halal way or who prepares, distributes, sells, or exposes for sale any food represented to be halal shall disclose the basis upon which those representations are made by posting the information required by the Director, in accordance with rules adopted by the Director, on a sign of a type and size specified by the Director, in a conspicuous place upon the premises at which the food is sold or exposed for sale, as required by the Director.

(c) Any person subject to the requirements of subsection (b) does not commit an unlawful practice if the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the person relied in good faith upon the representations of an animals’ farm, slaughterhouse, manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor of any food represented to be halal.

(d) Possession by a dealer of any animal grown to become food for consumption or any food not in conformance with the disclosure required by subsection (b) with respect to that food is presumptive evidence that the person is in possession of that food with the intent to sell.

(e) Any dealer who grows animals represented to be grown in a halal way or who prepares, distributes, sells, or exposes for sale any food represented to be halal shall comply with all requirements of the Director, including, but not limited to, recordkeeping, labeling and filing, in accordance with rules adopted by the Director.

(f) Neither an animal represented to be grown in a halal way to become food for human consumption, nor a food commodity represented as halal, may be offered for sale by a dealer until the dealer has registered documenting information of the certifying Islamic entity specialized in halal food or the supervising Muslim Inspector of Halal Food with the Director.

(g) The Director shall adopt rules to carry out this Section in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

(h) It is an unlawful practice under this Act to violate this Section or the rules adopted by the Director to carry out this Section. [RMO]