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Public Act 92-0394
SB750 Enrolled LRB9207942DJpr
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 or food product inspected as required by law, or any
food preparation from a source approved by the Department of
Agriculture, 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
(C) slices or otherwise prepares the halal
food products for sale with utensils used solely for
halal food items.
Section 20. Federal law. Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to exempt halal food from any provisions of the
federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1978 that may be
applicable.
Section 90. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2KK as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/2KK new)
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, with the Director,
documenting information of the certifying Islamic entity
specialized in halal food or the supervising Muslim Inspector
of Halal Food.
(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.
Passed in the General Assembly May 23, 2001.
Approved August 16, 2001.
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