by Tahmina Sattar

Created on: July 04, 2009   Last Updated: July 14, 2009

Finding halal foods in non Muslim countries is not as hard as it used to be a good twenty years ago. In those days getting halal food meant going to the abattoirs, requesting special permissions and other hassles so that the fridge was stocked with halal meat.

These days many large supermarkets carry many frozen items marked with the regulatory "halal" certication. You can find imported pies, nuggets, salami from islamic countries such as Malaysia and Turkey. Some stores that are located in areas with a large amount of Muslims cater to their community by keeping a halal section in their aisles.

Local butchers in areas with large Muslim populations also carry "halal" certification, and can supply everything except for pork. There are some butchers that specialise in sausages and cured meat. You can even order halal Turkey during Thanksgiving season- not a bad treat!

On line shopping has opened up new doors for seekers of halal food. On line searches can help you find the nearest stores that carry halal food, the availability of halal food in your local supermarket and even halal additives and colourings to check up on the ingredients of your food purchases. There are plenty of halal products available for purchase from halal meat websites in England, Canada, Australia and America, competing in a niche but thriving market.

Many popular restaurants and takeaways now offer halal food in certain locations- such as KFC in predominantly Lebanese community of Bankstown, Australia and in the mainly Asian populated Birmingham, England. Halal eateries have certainly grabbed a section of the fast food industry in many cosmopolitan cities with KFC copy cats a dime a dozen in East London.

Many locals have produced fast food outlets to cater for their growing communities and the desire of a younger generation of Muslim youth who just want to grab a burger- preferably halal. Mahmoods is a UK based halal fast food franchise that started early last year.

With all the growing uproar about fast food outlets such as Dominoes opting to offer halal menus replacing pork on many items, there is still that place where halal foods are hard to come by. If that is the case then it is an option to check out the kosher section of the supermarket as the meat is sacrificed in a similar way. If that too is unavailable there is always fish and vegetables instead!

In any case a rapid growth in the halal food sector has always been about demand. Where there is a demand a supply eventuates soon enough.

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