Gloria P wrote:

> Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> > Pandora wrote:
> >
> >> A little comment: have you ever seen a lot of foreign restaurant in an
> >> arabic country?
> >
> > Sure. I've seen McDonald's in every country I've ever visited, including
> > Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Burger
> > King is almost as ubiquitous. Dubai has some world-class French
> > restaurants. Some of the best Indian food I've had was in Indian
> > restaurants in Kuwait. Kuwait also had a Chili's, a TGI Fridays, and a
> > Johnny Rockets (all of which are American chain restaurants) which were
> > popular with the locals.
> >
>
>
> Is there a requirement for the food to be halal?


A Wiki search brings up lots of "answers", but apparently yes...and McD's
has opened up halal places in Western Europe, Australia, and Dearborn,
Michigan, too...FYI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal

"In Dearborn, Michigan, United States, home to one of the largest Muslim and
Arab populations in the United States, a number of fast food chains like
McDonald's introduced halal chicken nuggets. [6] In the UK and northeastern
United States, Halal fried chicken has become widely popular with both
Muslim and non-Muslim populations, and thousands of outlets such as Chicken
Cottage, Kennedy Fried Chicken, and Crown Fried Chicken have sprung up. New
York in particular is also home to many Halal food carts serving gyros,
chicken platters and other fast food, while the UK and Europe more generally
have many Muslim-owned Döner kebab shops.

A 2005 law passed in a county in Ohio, United States made it illegal to
sell, distribute, and/or produce food that has been mislabeled "halal," when
it is determined that the food does not meet Islamic dietary standards.
Similar laws protect kosher foods [7]. See Kashrut.

McDonald's is intending to offer Halal meals in the United States and some
parts of the United Kingdom with two of its franchises currently on trial,
offering this service. Six McDonald's Restaurants in Australia (two outlets
in Melbourne and four in Sydney) have Halal meals, India, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa are Halal
certified. [8][citation needed, link error]

Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC have been made Halal in Sri Lanka by the
Jamiyathul Ulama of Sri Lanka, the only competent authority to give out the
certification.

Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendys, Carls Jr, Burger King, A&W, Dunkin Donuts, Subway
stores in Islamic countries also serve halal foods...."


http://islam.about.com/od/dietarylaw/a/halalmcd.htm

"Halal McNuggets a Hit in Detroit
Sales are so good, McDonalds expands the idea other restaurants

In September 2000, a McDonald's restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan began
offering a halal version of its chicken nuggets, in response to requests
from area customers. Over the following year, sales of the unique item were
so good that they expanded the idea to a second Dearborn location.

Over 150,000 Muslims live in the Detroit/Dearborn area, representing an
ethnic and cultural mosaic that is typical of Muslims in America. According
to the Arab-American Institute, Dearborn has the highest concentration of
ethnic Arabs outside of the Middle East. In some area schools, more than 90%
of students are Muslim. It is not surprising, therefore, that Dearborn
stores and restaurants have begun to cater to the dietary needs of Muslims.
In addition to Muslim-owned businesses, other mainstream businesses such as
Kroger supermarket, Big Boy restaurant and Oakwood Hospital are offering
halal meats for the Muslim community.

At McDonald's, Muslim customers were often limited to the salads and
desserts. Some Muslims would eat the fries or fish sandwiches, but many
worried about possible contamination from cooking oils used for other meat
products.

McDonald's restaurants are found all over the Muslim world, including three
in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. In these locally-owned restaurants,
meat is purchased and prepared in the local area, in accordance with local
custom. Halal meat and chicken has been available in those markets for quite
a while.

Following the success of halal McNuggets in Michigan, McDonald's Corporation
has since expanded the halal offering to select restaurants in Australia and
the United Kingdom as well..."

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