Recent changes to Halal certification and labeling have created uncertainty for students who depend on the dining halls for their daily meals. The systemic issues regarding halal labeling, cross-contamination and sourcing issues that existed prior to these recent changes have been brought to the attention of many students.

For many students, staff, and faculty members at Stanford, adhering to a halal diet is not just a matter of preference but a core component of their cultural and religious identity. The absence of clear labeling complicates meal selection, leading to potential inadvertent dietary violations and a feeling of exclusion among community members who follow halal dietary laws.

We ask to:

1. Restore Halal labels. Students should be able to trust that food presented as Halal meets their religious requirements without having to inquire repeatedly. Label dishes consistently based on all ingredients and preparation methods. Halal considerations extend beyond meat or alcohol itself to all of the raw ingredients used in cooking.
2. Strengthen staff training. Train dining staff on Halal requirements, ingredient verification, and safe handling practices. At present, many of the staff are not knowledgeable or familiar with Halal requirements, but staff should understand the religious significance of Halal and the trust students place in that designation. 
3. Prevent cross-contamination during cooking and serving. Establish procedures that address shared fryers, cooking surfaces, ovens, utensils, and storage. Use dedicated stations for Halal food and separate serving utensils. Require clean plates at Halal stations to prevent serving utensils from contacting non-Halal food. Adopt methods similar to kosher dining.
4. Source all chicken and beef from Halal-certified providers. Adopt this standard across dining halls to reduce sourcing confusion and accidental substitutions which have been reported in the past.
5. Commission an independent Halal audit. Engage a qualified external Halal certifier to review sourcing, ingredients, preparation, and service. Share the certification with students to restore their confidence.

By signing this petition, we ask Stanford Dining to work with the Stanford Muslim Community, ORSL, and qualified Muslim scholars/auditors we have connections to in order to address these concerns and share a clear implementation timeline. Reliable Halal dining is essential to ensuring that Muslim students can eat on campus with confidence and practice their faith.