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Halal Community Council
Check a place

HCC is getting ready to open. No place has been checked yet, and no seal has been issued. These pages describe how HCC's checks will work.

Guide ยท At the counter

Five questions to ask at the counter

On every check, an HCC checker asks the staff who serve customers these five questions, in plain words, the way a customer would. You can ask them too, at any place, whether or not it shows a seal.

From the HCC Standard, Version 1, section 4 and the checkers' answer sheet

Why these five

The questions test one thing: whether what a customer hears at the counter matches what is written on the menu, what is posted on the wall, and what actually happens in the kitchen. HCC's Standard calls this "What is written, said and done agree." When the three tell the same story, that is a good sign. When they do not, the gap is worth a second question.

They are written for ordinary customers. You do not need to know anything about supply chains or certificates to ask them, and you do not need to ask all five. One or two, asked calmly, often tell you a great deal.

1. "Which items here are halal?"

Many places offer some halal items and some that are not, and some menus mark only part of the menu. This question tells you where the line is, in the place's own words.

A clear answer
Names the items, or points to the marks on the menu. It matches the menu and the signs, and it leaves out the items that are not halal.
Listen for
"Everything" at a place whose own menu, sign or record says some items are not. An item named as halal that the menu or the place's HCC record does not list.

At a market or butcher, ask: "Which meat and poultry here is halal?"

2. "Where does your meat and chicken come from, and who certifies it?"

A restaurant's halal claim usually rests on its suppliers: the slaughter plant, the processor and the distributor. A claim with a real source can name it.

A clear answer
Names a supplier or a certifier, or shows you where it is posted. The name matches the certificate on the wall or the source named on the place's HCC record.
Listen for
No name at all. A name that does not match the certificate on the wall or the record. A source that seems to be made up on the spot.

Some states require places to post or name their halal source. See what your state's law asks for.

3. "Is the halal meat cooked separately? Does it share a grill, fryer, oil or utensils with anything that is not halal?"

At a place that also serves pork or other non-halal items, separation is where shortcuts happen: one fryer for everything, one set of tongs, one cutting board. This question asks about the kitchen, not the menu.

A clear answer
Is specific ("the chicken has its own fryer", "this grill is only for halal") and matches what you can see.
Listen for
"Separate fryer" when you can see only one fryer, or the reverse. A vague "it's all fine" with nothing behind it.

At a market or butcher, ask: "Is the halal meat cut, ground and stored apart from anything that is not halal?"

For HCC, a place that also serves non-halal items can carry a seal only when separation is complete and seen in person: storage, preparation, cooking surfaces, oil, utensils and labeling. Its record says plainly which non-halal items it serves. How HCC treats mixed kitchens.

4. "Is there any pork, alcohol, gelatin or animal fat in the halal items, including sauces and desserts?"

Meat is not the only question. Sauces, marinades, broths, desserts and bought-in ingredients can carry ingredients that many Muslims avoid, and they are easy to forget.

A clear answer
Is accurate. "I'm not sure, let me check," followed by an answer from a manager or the label, is a good answer too.
Listen for
A confident "no" that turns out to be wrong when you read the label or ask a manager.

A Cornerstone record covers the meat and poultry in the named items. It does not cover sauces, marinades, desserts and other ingredients unless the record lists them. Some ingredient questions wait on HCC's imam; until he answers, those items are left out of a check and shown on the record as "Referred". HCC does not rule on which ingredients are acceptable.

5. "If I want to check for myself, can I see your certificate, and who can I ask if you are not sure?"

A place that knows its sources can usually show them. This question invites it to.

A clear answer
Shows you a certificate, a posted statement, or the place's HCC record (the code on an HCC decal opens it), or fetches someone who can answer.
Listen for
A refusal, or no attempt to point you anywhere.

When you are shown a certificate, here is how to read it.

How to ask

  • Use plain words and a kind tone. The person at the counter may be new, busy, or not the one who buys the meat. A question asked as a question, not an accusation, gets a better answer.
  • Pick a calm moment if you can. A slow hour gets a fuller answer than the lunch rush.
  • "I'm not sure, let me check" is a good answer. HCC's Standard expects staff to say when they do not know and to find out, rather than guess.
  • How you are treated is an answer too. Mockery, hostility or dismissal of a sincere halal question tells you something, whatever the words.
  • You decide what the answers mean for you. Eat, ask more, or walk away. None of it needs an explanation.

How HCC uses the same questions

  • On every check, at every level, the checker asks at least two people who take orders or serve customers, at least one of them not the owner. If only one person is on duty, that person.
  • At the Pillar and Keystone levels, at least one of the people asked works in the kitchen or at the meat counter.
  • The checker writes down what was said, by role ("cashier", "line cook"), never by name. Staff are never named in a record.
  • A pass answer matches the file and what the checker observed, or is an honest "I'm not sure, let me check" followed by the right answer.
  • A confident wrong answer, or an answer given with mockery, hostility or dismissal, is a "not yet" item, not a reason to decline. The business can train its staff, and HCC asks again by video before the decision.
  • On Keystone's unannounced visits, the inspector may first ask the questions as an ordinary customer, with nothing recorded, then introduce themselves. The business agrees to this when it applies and tells its staff.

Read section 4 of the Standard

What an answer can and cannot tell you

  • Whether the person serving you knows the place's halal items and sources.
  • Whether what you hear matches the menu, the sign, the certificate and the record.
  • How the place treats a sincere question.
  • An answer is what one person said on one day. A good answer is not proof, and a muddled one is not proof of a problem.
  • No answer is a religious ruling. What you accept is for you and the scholars you trust.
  • An answer does not tell you about food safety. Your local health department inspects for that.

If something does not match

  • At a place that shows an HCC seal: look up its record on the Register and compare. If what you heard or saw does not match the record, share a concern. You decide what the business may know about you.
  • At any other place: you can suggest it to HCC. HCC can only check a business that applies, so a suggestion is an invitation, never a judgment of the place.
  • In a state with a halal law: the state enforces it, not HCC. Find your state's law and who enforces it.