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Halal food has been getting bad press lately in the Western world and many Muslims are confused regarding the halal food regulations in the United States—some not knowing if there even are halal food regulations in the land of the free. In a nutshell, current sales have catapulted to $20, a number that has tripled since 2010, according to the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America.

Halal food regulations are relatively sparsely practiced among the states in America. That being said, only 9 out of the 50 states have halal food regulations. For starters, Illinois passed the Halal Food Act in 2002 and although this regulation may seem straightforward at first, it has proven to be quite the opposite. The confusion is partly caused by the varying opinions of different Islamic bodies on what halal truly embodies. Despite that, the general consensus of the act is that it prohibits the misrepresentation and false labelling of the products.

There have been many cases of mislabelling of food items that has caused public outcry—both from the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in America. In 2011, the McDonald’s franchise had a lawsuit filed against them for allegedly claiming that their nuggets and sandwiches were halal when they were in fact, not. The fast food chain had to pay a whopping amount of $700,000 to have the suit settled. McDonald’s remained with their stand that they did not mislabel their products, despite paying the compensation.

Under the regulations like the one practiced in Illinois, merchants who mislabel their goods are subject to sanctions under the Consumer Fraud Act established by the Department of Agriculture. This act also requires sellers that sell both halal and non-halal food items to display a window sign stating this combination of halal and non-halal food and to put a signage on their wall stating that these kinds of food are sold in the store. Utensils used to handle non-halal food shall not be used to process halal food to prevent cross contamination.

8 other states in the US have similar statutes to Illinois. The states are California, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia. All said states practice more or less similar regulations with only a few differences that are not very significant. With the rapid increase of Muslims in America, it would only be fair if more states started enforcing halal food regulations for the benefits of its residents—Muslims or non-Muslims alike.

The first thing that comes to the minds of most people when the word ‘Halal’ is mentioned is food. However, it’s time for us to change our perspectives of what is halal. Halal is an Arabic word that literally means permissible. Anything halal—be it food, medicine or one’s occupation—is made lawful to be practiced by a Muslim. Halal encompasses more than just what we digest—here are other matters that concerns halal.

Firstly, the intricate world of halal healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Similarly to food, pharmaceuticals is something that people consume. In recent years, Muslims have stepped up their game at ensuring the halal status of their pharmaceutical intake. This includes medicine in the form of pills, jabs and supplements. Muslims focus on detecting animal derived ingredients, alcohol or insect coatings in medicine offered in the market. With the help of websites and councils such as the Muslim Consumer Group, consuming halal has never been easier! Groups like this aim to enable Muslims to easily verify the halal status of anything edible they may consume.

Next, is the booming industry of halal tourism. As of late, there has been quite a significant increase in the participants of halal tourism, trying their luck at raking in customers. In countries like Malaysia where Muslims are a majority, it has often been a comforting blanket that has led Muslims to feel uncomfortable when they visit non-Muslim majority countries. This provides a market for tour guides that market themselves as Muslim friendly and are Muslim run.

Ten years ago, it was hard to find halal based tour guides that would take you to destinations other than Makkah or Madinah. On the contrary, looking 10 years forward, it seems as though you can find a halal tour guide anywhere! Halal tour guides ensure that every step you take during that holiday is halal. By taking up packages with these tour guides, you experience the destination as any other tourist would, with the comfort of being around people who understand your beliefs and respects it.

In addition to that, we have seen an increase of businesses that are branding themselves as halal. A recent example would be Rayani Air. Although it was a short-lived airline company, people were still keen to give it a try as it promises a fully halal and Islamic airline experience. Flight attendants were made to wear sharia-compliant clothing in addition to having no alcohol served on all Rayani Air flights. Another example would be Bank Rakyat’s launching of the Muslimah Card, where famed actress, business woman and host, Neelofa acts as ambassador. This is the only credit card-i specifically for Muslim women who obeys the Shariah in Malaysia.

Also in the relation to the banking industry is the halal finance industry. Halal finance has proven to fill in the gaps found in the conventional finance system that most countries use. In fact, many non-Muslim majority countries have taken the lead of countries such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in broadening their usage of the Islamic banking system. As many as two dozen British banks provide Islamic finance services throughout Britain.

The halal industry is flourishing. In a matter of time, halal will dominate many more sectors. With the continuous rise of Muslims around the world, there is no sign of stopping for the halal industry.