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Welcome to Canadian Halal Food

The Muslim Consumer Group for Food Products is a non-profit and non-political organization, incorporated in 1993 as Halal foods educational and Halal certification organization for Muslims consumers and food industry. Muslim consumers in Canada are in great need to know the Halal status of food products in Canadian supermarkets. Alhumdulillah MCG is grateful to Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala for providing this service to Muslims in Canada. This web site will educate them about requirements for Halal foods. We are the only Halal certifying organization whose Halal certification is acceptable to every Muslim consumer because it is based on strict Islamic dietary requirements.

Our Halal symbol H in triangle appears on many food products, and ingredients. We follow the Islamic dietary requirement of no added ethyl alcohol to food products such as in natural and artificial flavors, vanilla extract and alcohol containing products such as naturally brewed soy sauce. We bring complex food processing knowledge to Muslims and its impact on Islamic dietary requirements. Our main purpose is to help Canadian Muslims to bring only Halal food products to their homes and Masajid.

What we do

We educate Muslims consumers and food industry about Halal food products and Halal food ingredients through our two web sites. We answer question from Muslims regarding food products through e-mails and we have a toll free Halal Food Hot Line to answer question about Halal food products in supermarkets, food ingredients, Halal personal care products and Halal on the counter medicines.

We go to Masajid or Islamic center for Questions & Answers sessions. We participate questions/answers session on radio program.

We Halal certify non-meat food products and food ingredients for different food companies. We Recently Halal Certified various vegetable oils for Y & Y Distribution company of Montreal, QC Canada. Inshallah  these oils with our Halal symbol will be available in Montreal and Toronto supermarkets

Recent Research on Food Products in 7 supermarkets of Toronto, Ontario area:

In April 2009 Muslim Consumer Group has completed the research and collected the data of food products in 7 supermarkets of Toronto, Ontario area. The total products researched were 2234 in 7 different supermarkets excluding the meat and meat-by products and assign the following status: Halal, Halal if no alcohol is used in flavor, Not Halal

The above status were assigned on the basis of Muslim Consumer Group's criteria as reported on this website. The 8 supermarkets researched in Toronto area are:

• Costco Warehouse
• Food Basic Supermarket
• Fresh Co (Old Price Chopper)
• Loblaws Supermarket
• Metro Supermarket (Old Dominion)
• No Frill Supermarkets
• Real Canadian Superstore
• Wal-Mart Super Center

Inshallah the data on food products in seven supermarkets will be updated whenever it is necessary.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HALAL FOODS

Vanilla Extract is a Haram ingredient

According to FDA Code of Federal Regulation 21 Part 169.175 "Vanilla Extract is a solution in aqueous ethyl alcohol of the sapid and odorous principles extractable from vanilla beans".

Vanilla Extract in simple term is a solution containing natural vanillin flavor compounds in a minimum of 35% ethyl alcohol and 13.55 ounces of vanilla bean per gallon. Vanilla Extract is available in many concentration or strength which is called fold. It is available in double or triple strength. A fold could be from one to 20 fold.

Vanilla Extract is mostly used in cookies , ice creams and many other products for flavoring purpose. French Vanilla Ice cream is mostly made with vanilla extract.

Vanilla extract with other flavors are added to ice cream products or frozen dessert products after pasteurization when the ice cream mix is cool down from pasteurization temperature of 161 degree F. Other natural or artificial flavors with alcohol as a solvent in ice cream is also added after pasteurization to prevent the loss of flavor. So many ice cream retain the same amount alcohol as it found in raw flavor before adding to ice cream. Suppose if vanilla Extract is added at 3% in the ice cream formula, the alcohol content of finished ice cream will be anywhere from  1 to 1.5% alcohol. We know this amount of alcohol does not intoxicate anybody but we have a Sahi hadith which says even a small amount of intoxicant is also Haram. Alcohol is a intoxicant.

Muslim Consumer Group considers Vanilla Extract  as a Haram ingredient based on the following fatwa from our own Islamic scholar Mufti Khalil Ahmed of Jamia Nizamia, Hyderabad, India(Phone 01191-9849071327, jamianizamia@yahoo.com):

FATWA FROM DARUL IFTA JAMIA NIZAMIA HYDERABAD, INDIA ON ALCOHOL

Jamia Nizamia has issued the following Fatwa on Alcohol:

Although there is difference of opinion among ulema about alcohol being consider as wine but according to "Mufti Ba Qhool" (saying of Mufti) anything which causes intoxication in large or small quantity is consider as Haram. So use of alcohol is prohibited.

 Food Products having Kosher symbols like OU, Circle K, KD, Kuf K, CRC and V are not always Halal    

The Kosher Certified food products are not considered Halal if they contain one of the following ingredient (based on MCG Halal criteria):

}  (1) Gelatin (2) Kosher Gelatin (3) L-Cysteine made from human hair or chicken or duck feathers (4) Wine (5) Liquor (6) Beer batter (7) Rum flavor (8) Ethyl Alcohol or ethanol as a main ingredient (9) Cochineal or Carmine (10) Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce (11) Brewer’s Yeast Extract from byproduct of beer making  (12) Nucleotides (13) Vanilla Extract (14) Wine Vinegar (15) If ethyl alcohol is used as a solvent in natural and artificial flavors (16) Confectionary Glaze or Resinous Glaze (17) Torula Yeast grown on alcohol.

 HOW TO PHRASE YOUR QUESTION ABOUT ALCOHOL IN FLAVOR OF A FOOD PRODUCT

The question about alcohol in flavor is a tricky one because it is a hidden ingredient of the flavor. If you ask alcohol question to non technical consumer department person of a food company, first they look at the ingredients list of the food product and will find no alcohol is mentioned. Then they will say we do not use alcohol in our products because they do not know the alcohol is a hidden ingredient of the flavor. We request Muslim consumers to use the following phrase when asking or writing the question to consumer department of any food company regarding the presence or absence of alcohol in the flavor of a food product.

" is alcohol used as a solvent in flavor; alcohol is a hidden ingredient or processing aid ingredient of a flavor, it will not appear in the ingredients statement. The knowledge of presence or absence of alcohol in flavor is only known to your QA or Technical service department because they have access to the specification of flavors. In the specification of flavor, your flavor supplier has written  the name of solvent or carrier used in that particular flavor. So please request your QA or Technical service department to find out whether alcohol was used or not in the flavor as a solvent. The consumer department can not answer this question because they do not have access to specification of ingredients".

HALAL STATUS SYMBOLS

 Halal    Not Halal    Mushbooh or Unknown    Halal if no alcohol is used in flavor    MCG Certified Halal

MCG'S HALAL CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Please fill out the application form from site or obtained through e-mail or fax.

Please click here for Certification Procedure

If your products pass the Halal requirements then signing the contract including number of inspection per year, record keeping, number of products to be Halal certified and service fees for Halal certification.

MCG'S HALAL REQUIREMENTS:

Raw material, processing aid ingredients, processing, sanitation chemicals and packaging should meet the Islamic dietary requirements.

MCG will not consider a natural or artificial flavor as Halal if ethyl alcohol is used as a solvent or carrier and if the flavoring ingredients are not from Halal source.