What do we do and
why do we stand out?
Since the beginning, consumption of clean, pure, and permissible food is an integral part of the human culture and as mentioned in many holy scripture’s consumption of clean and pure food is beneficial not only for the physical realm but also for the spiritual realm. So, it’s a religious obligation on every Muslim to consume clean, pure (Tayyab) and permissible (Halal) food.
In today’s world, it can be very difficult to evaluate and verify any halal labeled product is truly halal and is extremely sensitive to Muslim consumers. Therefore, consumers have to largely rely on the seller and/or trust the information provided on the product label to guide their purchases. Currently, there is no system is in place to track the trade of halal-certified products. In the case of halal meat, trust is not merely looking at the ingredients as it doesn’t encompass the entire procurement and production process.
Challenges
The lack of religiously accepted and compliance standards among global certification bodies has even resulted in the trust of halal status of meat and poultry products. And in the United States, the USDA’s (United States Department of Agriculture) inability to manage certification standards for these products or to create a more comprehensive policy regarding them, makes the current process more complex and decrease consumer confidence, as it lacks traceability, distribution standards and lack of a governing body that would establish, maintain, manage halal certification and audit standards at the Domestic and International levels.
The USDA lacks jurisdiction in the matter of certifying religious meat, making this sector incohesive. The USDA label represents high-quality products and assurance due to the U.S. Government’s oversight of this product. The absence of USDA quality assurance in halal food leads to consumers’ apprehension in this bureau for the fraudulent products found within these halal markets.
Inconsistent Halal standards and fraudulent marketing of Islamic permitted products have become increasingly problematic for the U.S. and global markets.
The challenges with current certification agencies are enormous to list since their operating model is based on bestowing passing grades to the slaughtering and packaging companies.
Solution
This urged the need for a “global concerted effort to upgrade halal certification”, which starts with the acceptance of a new certification framework by putting in place an independent halal certification entity backed by the Islamic religious non-profit entities, Imams, and Sufi Sheiks of all the Islamic 73 sects. This will regulate the halal compliance standards for the domestic and international markets as this will be a key step towards harmonized regulation. Al Nur Truly Halal Services Inc. ANT٨S is such that third-party non-profit US certification entity that provides state-of-the-art technology to promote and adapt ‘verifiable truly Halal’ products to the US and Global food, cosmetic, clothing and packaging manufacturers, certifiers, processors, and distributors.
(ANT٨S) regulatory framework comprise the following elements:
- Definitions, Guidelines, and Standards set by Islamic Scholars, Food Hygienist, Food Scientist, Microbiologist, and Chemist.
- Auditing and Certification carried out by Food Safety Inspectors, Flying Squad Auditors, and the Islamic Scholars.
- Accreditation is honored to the products which are deemed by ANT٨S as clean, pure and permissible for human particularly Muslim consumption.
The global Halal market is estimated to be worth $1.9 Trillion per year and continues to grow 6% annually
Today Muslim people constitute about 25% of the population in the world and this is expected to increase further
The size of the global halal market could reach around $3.5 trillion by 2025 [Pew Research, 2017].
Our Advantage
ANT٨S is an independent non-for-profit entity and registered as a 501 c3 (Charitable organization) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Our sole intention is to standardize the requirements for halal foods, cosmetics, clothing, and packaging and set the precedents for all international certifiers to accept our standards as a one single unified standard.
We consider this blessed initiative as a prayer rather as a business with the sole aim of making money.
