ISNA vs HMA (Toronto) brief comparison of practices..

ISNA® Canada HALAL/ZABIHA STANDARDS:

The following conditions for Halal/Zabiha certification by ISNA® Canada are the standards to be followed by the Abbattoires and other Food Manufacturing Industries in order to produce Halal Food for the Muslims:

• Animals will be blessed by Muslims recommended and authorized by ISNA® or by its designated agent;
• Any stunning shall be only to render the animal unconscious momentarily and is not to cause death. This is established by Agriculture Canada requirements and sworn to by the Veterinarian in charge for slaughter operations.
• The animals are to be cut immediately after stunning to ensure bleeding time in excess of 90 seconds.
• The Halal identification is to be monitored and strictly regulated to ensure it is affixed only to the products from the Zabiha animals.
• ISNA® is to have the right of access to the business premises without prior notice to ensure that the requirements are being adhered to.
• Any Halal certification shall be limited to only the Halal operations and not a blanket certification of all meat producing operations.
• will terminate the Halal certification if the producer fails to make its products Halal.

In its standards for Halal certification, ISNA® will treat all producers and distributors equally, whether they are Muslim or Non-Muslim. (<-----How can this be the case.???)

HMA
How is the HMA halal certification distinct from other halal certifying agencies?

We emphasize the fact that the system is NOT based on merely issuing certificates to the halal establishments after approval but rather, each and every animal will be thoroughly inspected through the HMA procedure of having inspectors physically present which involves inspection of chicken and meat from the source to the point of being slaughtered through to its packaging and up to the point of delivery, then finally stamped/tagged to be HMA approved Halal. At the point of sale the buyer will have to merely demand from the butchers and halal outlets to provide him/her with the chicken, meat and products that bear an "HMA Halal" label or stamp on it.

HMA Structure..
Is stunning the only thing the HMA monitors, and are abattoirs that do not apply stunning methods automatically approved?

Stunning is not the only problem which confronts the Halal meat industry. There are many conditions and requirements of slaughter which if not adhered to can render it Haram/unlawful. As well as ensuring that animals are not stunned, the HMA certification system also constantly monitors at the site of slaughter that;

• Animals are manually slaughtered,
• A Muslim does the slaughtering,
• The slaughterer verbally mentions the name of Allah on each slaughter,
• All the necessary veins are cut,
• No cross-contamination of non-certified meat/poultry or their parts takes place,
• The temperature of the dip tank remains within a certain level, etc.

Since the only way to ascertain that all of these conditions are met is by physical monitoring, HMA approval and certification can only be accorded where this has taken place. Unfortunately, there are many places where due to the speed of the killing line or some other reasons, some of the above conditions are not met which can render some or all products non Halal.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!

is that Hma inspectors are ALWAYS present at each and every single location which they have certified, each and every time they perform any slaughter which is to be labelled HALAL by the HMA. Unlike other such agencies (Namely ISNA) where a system is placed and monitored (hopefully) in ALLAH knows what interval periods, as the ISNA website states: Randomly.  And it doesn't stop there.. ISNA further certifies the outlets that carry this MEAT and they have a whole list of certified HALAL meat retailers CLICK HERE. This is definitely requires more effort on the part of the certifying authority namely HMA, but makes the life of the muslim consumer much easier.We thank Allah and make du'a for the Ulama and the volutneers and workers of HMA for this great service to the muslims of Toronto.