FAQs

Zabiha Halal is certified Halal by the Canadian Halal Food Certifying Agency (CHFCA) as well as Halal Monitoring Organization (HMO). We are also endorsed by leading Islamic scholars and Islamic organizations such as: Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Alnadvi of Sharia Consulting Services, Fiqh Council of North America, The Islamic Centre of Canada, Association Musulmane des Commerces Des Viandes Halal-Quebec, Canada. We voluntarily follow Halal standards approved by Masjid Istiqlal-Indonesia, Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA), Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) and many other well-known Muslim organizations around the world. We are also a member of International Halal Integrity Alliance. Additionally, We continuously invite Imams and religious scholars to visit our plant and witness our process, and welcome suggestions and recommendations that help us improve this process.

To ensure we can consistently satisfy high demand and provide high quality meat, we us an Automated Slaughter process. During Automated Slaughter, an automatic rotary blade precisely cut esophageal, pulmonary, jugular and carotid channels leaving the head attached while live Muslim blessers orally recites Tasmiah and Takbeer (Bismillahi wa Allohuakbar). It ensures a precise cut without decapitation. This slaughtering process is approved by leading Muslim scholars and Halal certifying bodies and widely used in the Halal industry worldwide.

Zabiha Halal is federally inspected, HACCP and BRC certified (two of the most rigorous standards of food safety).

Yes! Our halal slaughter is a continuous process. The Muslim blessers recite Tasmiah at the time each bird comes under the rotary blade. We understand that it is not possible for a person to continuously recite Tasmiah, over long periods, at the same rate. To keep the speed consistent, the blessers at the slaughter station are rotated with other blessers in order to prevent fatigue. This rotation continues for the duration of the slaughter process.

Along with frequent inspection visits from our certifying bodies, we have strict internal controls to ensure Islamic guidelines are always followed. It is our standard procedure to have minimum three Muslim blessers at each line, with one backup. These Muslim employees are well-trained and under oath to perform the duties assigned to them with honesty and integrity. We periodically conduct Halal refresher courses for all involved in Halal processing, including our senior management.

We have several checkpoints in place to ensure the chickens we slaughter are alive and in good health. Several Canadian Food Inspection Agency Inspectors work in our slaughter operations inspecting the chickens throughout the process, from slaughter through to further processing. When chickens are placed on the slaughtering line, our well-trained employees check every chicken and remove any unsuitable chickens. Our blessers perform heartbeat checks and visually monitor the movement of the chicken and flow of blood at the time of slaughter.

No. There has never been a CD or cassette for blessing chickens in our facility. We employ more than 25 Muslim blessers to ensure that the chickens are properly blessed on the slaughtering line.

We have a stringent Quality Assurance coding system in place that preserves the identity of Halal meat all the way through the process, enabling us to certify our Halal claim. This system ensures the segregation of Halal from non-Halal products, and is verified on a frequent and random basis to ensure the integrity of our Halal products is maintained.

If Halal standards are not met, our certifiers will inform us that the group of chickens in question are not Halal and must be separated from the rest.

In response to the growing needs of Halal consumers of Canada, Zabiha Halal also offers a number of Halal beef products. These products are produced at locations approved and supervised by our Halal certifying body CHFCA.

Our parent company, Maple Lodge Farms, has contracts with several local Ontario farmers and as such, the grain that each farmer feeds their chickens will vary to some degree. It is a general practice (outside of organic farming or those labeled raised without antibiotics) to use a very small amount of antibiotic in chicken feed to prevent birds from developing disease. In this way, veterinary antibiotics play an integral role in providing safe food for consumers as well as in animal welfare and animal health.

The use of hormones (including steroid hormones) in chicken production has been banned in Canada since 1963. It is illegal and has been for more than 55 years, so you can rest assured that you are not consuming hormones when you eat chicken. To ensure compliance, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency employs a surveillance program whereby meat samples are routinely tested for chemical residues including hormones. For further information, please visit the Chicken Farmers of Canada here.