Eastern Canada’s only federally-inspected beef producer gets halal certification, says responding to growing demand

Photo: Herd of Ayrshire cows grazing in farm field at Prince Edward Island, Canada / Elena Elisseeva

Growing demand for halal food has driven Atlantic Beef Products Inc, Eastern Canada's only federally-inspected beef producer, to become halal certified, the company announced last Friday. 

The company's Albany, Prince Edward Island, plant received its halal certification from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of Canada (IFANCC). 

"There has been a steadily growing interest from Muslim consumers, food retailers and food service operators looking for halal beef in Atlantic Canada," said Russ Mallard, president of Atlantic Beef Products in a statement. 

Canada's expenditure on halal food was estimated at $1 billion in 2014 and the market is poised for growth driven by increasing demand among Canadian Muslims and an expanding Muslim population, which is projected to reach 2.7 million by 2030 (6.6 percent of population) from just over a million currently (2.8 percent of population), according to a Salaam Gateway analysis. 

The Canadian government has recognised the halal sector as a viable one and in 2014 passed a bill that made it mandatory for all products that claim to be halal to carry the name of the certification body. The new law will come into effect in April this year.