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92nd General Assembly

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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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