The need to comply with halal norms (religious precepts regarding the permissibility of something from the point of view of Islam) is an important part of Muslim life. Most often, halal is associated with food that is allowed to be consumed by believers, although the concept affects many various spheres of life, such as doing business, recreation, social behavior, clothing, etc.
Availability of affordable eating establishments that meet halal requirements has always been a problem for Ukrainian Muslims. It became even more relevant this summer, when tourists from Arab countries began to massively visit Ukraine. Not all restaurateurs are scrupulous about the issue, and some simply use the halal sign for marketing purposes, without considering what the term really means.
The Ukrainian Association of Halal Industry "Ukrhalal" decided to monitor the capital's restaurantеs, positioning themselves as halal. It appealed to experts on halal standardization, who surveyed each such establishments and made their own conclusions. Thus, it turned out that only 20% of them can really be considered halal and qualify for halal certification, in accordance with the relevant standards. 55% of the establishments offer visitors halal meat dishes, but the menu also includes alcohol or pork dishes.
According to representatives of the UAHI "Ukrhalal", most of the restaurant establishments generally refused to provide information and give any comments or ignored the request.
“In order for a restaurant to be considered halal, it must meet certain requirements. The main ones are: all products in the establishment must be halal, the establishment should not have alcoholic beverages on the menu. There should also not be any pork dishes, ” says Wael Alami, a spokesman for the association.
Also, according to the UAHI "Ukrhalal", the monitoring showed that none of the Kyiv establishments has a Halal certificate.
“At the same time, the conditions and food products of some of them meet the requirements of this standard,” says Wael Alami. - The Ukrhalal Association does not define the status of any of the surveyed restaurant establishments as halal. We leave it for each consumer to decide whether these establishments should be considered halal or not. "
The checklist of the surveyed establishments is available here.
Reference. The Ukrainian Association of Halal Industry "Ukrhalal" is a public organization which main task is to develop the Ukrainian market for halal services.
