IFANCA Vice President, Prof. Dr.Mohamed Sadek, was recently granted an audience with the Queen of Malaysia, Her Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Fauziah binti Al-Marhum Tengku Abdul Rashid at the National Palace in Putra Jaya, Malaysia on July 1, 2006.

Prof. Dr. Sadek highlighted IFANCA’s role and efforts in establishing Halal standard throughout the world. He reaffirmed the close working relationship between IFANCA and Malaysia’s Halal certifying body, JAKIM.

The Queen was happy to learn about IFANCA as a reputable Halal certifying agency and its important role to help the Muslim Ummah in choosing authentic Halal foods.

Finally, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Sadek thanked the Queen of Malaysia for taking some of her precious time to talk with him.

Meet The IFANCA Board of Directors:

Dr. Muhammad Munir Chaudry, President, was educated at the Agricultural University in Lyallpur, Pakistan and the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He worked on his PhD in Food Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and graduated in 1980. From 1980-1993, Dr. Chaudry worked in the food industry; his final position was as Vice President of Quality at Heller Seasonings, Inc. Currently Dr. Chaudry is president of IFANCA and manages all activities of IFANCA including Halal certification. He has made many presentations on Islamic as well as technical subjects at both national and international conferences. He is the co-author of the book “Halal Food Production”.

Professor Dr. Mohamed Sadek, Director, was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Following schooling in Malaysia, he pursued his degree in Veterinary Science from Lahore, Pakistan. After graduating in 1966, he served in the Malaysian government Veterinary Services Department. In 1970, Dr. Sadek pursued his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Food Science in Britain. He was appointed as Technical Member of Malaysia’s Halal/ Haram committee in 1982 and served there until 1998 when the Halal program was privatized. Currently he is Vice-President of IFANCA and also the Secretary General of the World Halal Food Council.

Dr. Ahmad H. Sakr, Director, was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He was educated at the American University of Beirut and received his PhD from the University of Illinois. While in Lebanon, he studied under the late Grand Mufti of Lebanon as well as other Muslim scholars in the Middle East. He served there as Director of the Islamic Center of Beirut.

In the US, he was a founding member and President of the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada, which later evolved into ISNA. Dr. Sakr was also a founding member of the World Council of Mosques whose headquarters are in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He was the first Director and the representative of the Muslim World League to the UN in New York. He is currently the President of the Foundation for Islamic Knowledge, Lombard Illinois and Islamic Education Center, Walnut, California.

Mr. Rashid A. Chaudary, Director, was born in Faisalabad. He completed his Bachelors and Masters in Science from the University of Punjab, Lahore. He is currently the Chairman and CEO of BioCare Labs and RAANI Corp of Illinois, as well as a founder of the latter, an international personal care company specializing in cosmetics, toiletries and OTC Drug products. Mr. Chaudary has taught chemistry at the graduate and postgraduate level. He has affiliations with numerous organizations in various capacities. These include positions as Managing Trustee of the Democratic National Committee from 1995-97, Commissioner of Asian American Affairs of Chicago from 1989-99, Member of Economic Development Advisory of Cook County, Former Board Member of American Refugee Committee, Chairman of Asian American Coalition of Chicago in 1992 and 2000 and Chairman of Asian American Voters Coalition of Illinois

Mr. Mahmood Baig, Director, completed his MS in Food Science and Nutrition from Kansas State University. He has been working in various managerial positions in food service at the local hospitals. He is a registered and licensed dietician having his own private practice. He is also vice president of IFANCA, and has many years of experience in the food science and nutrition area.

Mr. Allen Hamood, Director, was born, raised and educated in the USA. He served in the US Army in 1966 and went to college there after completing his B.S. in Accounting from Detroit in 1970. He worked as a Financial Analyst for Ford Motor Company during the '70s. He was later Controller and then CEO of Tama Meat Packing Co. in Iowa where he started the Halal slaughter program and began exporting meats to the Middle East and the Far East. Currently, Mr. Hamood is the President and CEO of American Bakery Products in Dearborn, Michigan. He is also very active in the local Muslim community.

NEW YORK,NY--- New York's Halal Foods Protection Act of 2005 will be implemented shortly according to officials. The Act which was signed into law last year was not implemented earlier as the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets was still to begin inspections.

A department spokesperson said that so far no complaints have been filed and that it continues to conduct outreach with Halal establishments and certifying agents about the new law. He added that no inspectors have been specifically assigned for Halal work but that they intend to utilize Food Safety Inspectors or Farm Products Inspectors to perform Halal inspections when they begin doing them.

New York 's Halal Foods Protection Act of 2005 requires the following individuals and businesses to register or file with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets:

• Producers and distributors, of food in package form which is certified as Halal must file the name, address and phone number of the person, (e.g. individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization), who certifies the food as Halal.
• Manufacturers, producers, processors, packers and sellers of non pre-packaged food which is certified as Halal must file the name, address and phone number of the person, (e.g. individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization), who certifies the food as Halal.
• Any person who certifies a non pre-packaged food product as Halal must file a statement of his or her qualifications to certify food as Halal.
• Food establishments and caterers who sell food prepared on their premises or under their control which is represented as Halal must post a Halal certification form at their business in a location readily visible by consumers and file a copy with the Department.

Halal Certification to Expand Premix Manufacturing Opportunities for Fortitech Europe

Gadstrup, Denmark - Fortitech Europe's new state-of-the-art premix manufacturing and testing facility in Denmark is now certified Halal-compliant by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). To earn the certification, Fortitech Europe's manufacturing facility and laboratory had to successfully meet strict Islamic guidelines dealing with hygiene, dietary regulation, raw material processing and premix packaging.

"Meeting the rigorous Halal requirements is an excellent move for Fortitech's growing business initiatives in our market," says Peter Sørensen, managing director of Fortitech Europe ApS. "With more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, we see Halal as a form of guarantee that boosts our customers' trust and confidence in our nutrient premixes."

Part of the global network of manufacturing and distribution companies of Fortitech, Inc., the world leader in the development of custom nutrient premixes, Fortitech Europe ApS can now fully meet the growing demand for Halal-compliant premixes in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries throughout the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Statistics show that not only Muslims are choosing Halal products – demand is increasing among a diverse group of consumers on every continent because Halal is being perceived as a quality assurance and safety measure due to the necessary strict hygienic regulations needed for certification.

About Fortitech Europe ApS
Fortitech Europe ApS is part of the global network of manufacturing and distribution companies of Fortitech, Inc., the world leader in the development of custom nutrient premixes for the food, drink and pharmaceutical industries. Located in Gadstrup, Denmark, the company is exclusively dedicated to the manufacture of nutrient premixes. Fortitech Europe is ISO 9001:2000 certified and meets Halal and kosher requirements. The company also meets HACCP and allergen monitoring program standards. For more information, visit fortitech.com - featuring FortiSource™ - the ultimate fortification destination. Not just premixes...Strategic Nutrition.

09/08/2006 – The French plant extract manufacturer Naturex is the latest ingredients supplier to seek Halal certification for its production plants in France, Morocco, New Jersey and California. Naturex offers a complete range of vegetable extracts that add aroma, color, antioxidant or nutraceutical properties to food stuffs such as meat products, cooked drinks, dishes or food complements. Its success can be attributed to its wide-ranging product offering. It now offers more than 300 different nutraceutical extracts, a number far exceeding those of its competition.

The company has a global presence and attributed its decision to seek Halal certification as "a real market opportunity" that it was interested in tapping into. The West has seen increasing numbers of its Muslim population seeking Halal certified food such as burgers to pizza and Chinese take-away.

According to a report by Nurtaingredients.com, "the need to provide halal certification has grown out of globalization and migration…. Most of the halal requirements govern meat and animal-related ingredients. Foods containing ingredients such as gelatin, enzymes, emulsifiers, are considered Mashbooh (questionable) because the origin of the ingredients is not known." Naturex has its headquarters in Avignon, France.

According to IFANCA, the worldwide Muslim headcount is approximately 1.4bn, 30m of whom are living in Europe. While European Muslims are a small segment of the overall population, they are believed to have huge purchasing power. The Halal food market has never been measured but estimates range from US$150 to 500 bn.

Naturex's decision to go Halal indicates its commitment to ensuring that nothing breaches halal standards during either the extraction or formulation process. A company spokesperson was confident that Naturex’s existing procedures would allow it to maintain complete traceability. Other companies in the nutrition and supplement sector with certified Halal offerings include Aloecorp, McNeil Nutritionals, Ocean Nutrition Canada and Reliv International.