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Guide ยท On the sign

Zabiha, certified and "halal" on a sign

The words on a window, a menu or a delivery app are claims made by the business. Here is what each word usually claims, what the law says about it, and what to ask next.

Law facts from HCC's research, completed October 14, 2026. Sources at the end of the page.

First, who is speaking

Three different voices can stand behind the word "halal" at the same place, and they say different things.

The sign or menu
The business's own claim about its food.
A certificate
A certifying body's statement about what it certified: a product, a plant, a supplier or a place, for a stated period.
An HCC record
HCC's account of what it checked at one location, when, and what the check does not cover. HCC never says in its own voice that food is halal.

Knowing which voice you are reading tells you which question to ask next.

No single legal meaning

  • No federal definition. HCC's research found no federal rule that defines "halal" or "zabiha". The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service approves special claims on the labels of federally inspected meat and poultry (9 CFR 412.1), but a restaurant's menu or window sign is not one of those labels.
  • Religious slaughter in federal law. Federal law counts slaughter by the ritual method of a religious faith as a humane method (7 U.S.C. 1902(b)) and exempts ritual slaughter from the federal humane slaughter rules (7 U.S.C. 1906). Neither section says what that method must be.
  • A pending question. In 2025 a petition asked the Food Safety and Inspection Service to define "zabiha halal" as hand slaughter without stunning, or to require that such a claim be backed by an outside certifier with a published definition. HCC's research found no decision on it as of October 14, 2026.
  • Ten states have a halal law. California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Several define "halal" in their own words, and several require signs or postings. Each state in plain words.
  • Everywhere else, a false food claim can still fall under a state's general consumer protection law, even where no halal law exists.

"Halal"

Usually claims
That the food, or the items marked, meets Islamic dietary rules as the business or its supplier understands them.
Ask next
Which items? Who is the source? These are questions 1 and 2.

What the law says. No federal definition. In seven of the ten halal-law states (California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Washington), a false halal claim is itself an offense. New Jersey, New York and Virginia turn on disclosure, filing or naming the authority, and a false claim there falls under general consumer protection law. Where a state defines the word, it words the meaning its own way. Illinois: "prepared under and maintained in strict compliance with the laws and customs of the Islamic religion." Michigan: "prepared or processed in accordance with Islamic religious requirements." Texas: food prepared and served in conformity with Islamic religious requirements "according to a recognized Islamic authority."

"Zabiha"

Also written zabihah, zabeeha or dhabiha.

Usually claims
Something about how the animal was slaughtered. What exactly it requires is not settled in law. One certifier describes its work as "hand-slaughtered Zabiha Halal"; the 2025 petition asked that "zabiha halal" mean hand slaughter without stunning. Others may use the word differently.
Ask next
Zabiha according to whom? If it matters to you, ask whether the slaughter was by hand or by machine, and whether the animal was stunned. A certificate sometimes states the method.

What the law says. No federal definition. Illinois's halal law mentions it: halal includes "those laws and customs of zabiha/zabeeha (slaughtered according to appropriate Islamic code)."

"Certified" and "halal certified"

Usually claims
That a named certifying body reviewed a product, a plant, a supplier or the place itself, and attests to it under that body's own standard.
Ask next
Certified by whom? A name lets you check the certifier's own public list. Then ask whether the certificate covers this place, or only a supplier. How to read a certificate.

What the law says. New Jersey's rules describe a halal certifying agency as an independent third party "which supervises a business, product or the production or preparation of food and attests it was in conformance with the standards of halal." In New York, any advertisement that represents food as halal must name the person or body certifying it. In Virginia, a halal label or display must name the authority behind the claim, or give a phone number or website to look it up. In Canada, a halal claim must carry the certifier's name.

"Halal options" and mixed menus

Usually claims
That some items are halal and some are not. Common at places that also serve pork or other non-halal items.
Ask next
Which items, and is the halal food kept and cooked apart? These are questions 1 and 3.

What the law says. Several states require places that sell both kinds to say so in large letters. California asks restaurants for "halal and nonhalal food served here" and meat sellers for "halal and nonhalal meats sold here", in block letters at least four inches tall. Illinois asks for "Halal and Non-Halal Foods Sold Here" (or "Served Here"), New York for "halal and non-halal meat sold here" or "food sold here", and Maryland for "halal and nonhalal food sold here". Texas asks stores that sell both kinds of meat to label each halal portion "halal" and each display case "halal" or "nonhalal". Michigan asks sellers to identify "halal meat" or "halal food" when both kinds are shown.

Arabic lettering

Usually claims
To many customers, Arabic lettering in a window or on a menu reads as a halal claim, even when it says something else.
Ask next
What does it say, and which items does it mean?

What the law says. Michigan and Maryland treat it that way. In Michigan, Arabic characters other than the word "halal" need, in English letters at least as large, one of three lines: "we sell halal meat and food only", "we sell nonhalal meat and food only" or "we sell both halal and nonhalal meat and food". Maryland has the same rule for Arabic characters or any other representation that a place sells halal food. Canada counts Arabic letters likely to create a halal impression as a halal claim.

HCC's seal uses Latin letters only, everywhere.

"Muslim-owned"

Usually claims
Who owns the business. On its own, it is not a claim about where the meat comes from or how the kitchen works.
Ask next
The same questions you would ask anywhere: which items, and from what source.

The HCC seal

The seal says that HCC checked this location at one of three levels (Cornerstone, Pillar or Keystone), on a date, and it carries a record number. The record behind it says what the check covered, what it did not cover, and every fact with its basis: Seen Observed Stated. The seal never says "certified", never says the food is halal, and never shows past its good-through date.

A business may show it only at the checked location, only while verified, only in the forms HCC supplies, and never as "HCC halal" or "approved by HCC". What the seal means, level by level.

Questions people answer differently

Some questions behind these words do not have one answer that every certifier, scholar and customer shares. Among them:

  • Hand or machine slaughter, especially for poultry.
  • Whether an animal may be stunned before slaughter.
  • Gelatin and animal fat from plant, mineral or fish sources, and from animals.
  • Alcohol as an added ingredient, for example in a sauce or a flavoring.
  • How shared equipment must be cleaned.

HCC does not rule on any of them. When a certificate states a method, an HCC record reports it as a fact HCC saw. Where a question waits on HCC's imam, the item it touches is left out of the check and listed on the record as "Referred". What you accept is for you and the scholars you trust.

Sources

Read by HCC's research on or before October 14, 2026. The New York and California sites block automated reading, so the research read copies of the same text; the links below go to the official pages.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. All guides.