Creekstone Farms Black Angus Beef Halal ?
UPDATE (November 2021)
This update shares additional messages directly from Creekstone that unequivocally country that all their beef products are indeed slaughtered and certified halal. Curlicue down beneath for the original post from Jan 2020 and the update from May 2021.
We have a response from Creekstone! Thank you to Mairaj from the Halal.ist WhatsApp group – see these screenshots of emails from Courtney Capps, the Ecommerce back up specialist at Creekstone.
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Email 1 -
Email 2 -
Email 3
Email 1 asks the question – even if some meat is non certified halal, was all meat slaughtered halal? Email 2 includes a first answer that says, all Creekstone beef is slaughtered halal. The follow-upward question is also asked, is all beef certified halal? Email iii has the second reply from Creekstone, which verifies that all Creekstone beefiness is as well certified halal.
All of our beef products are slaughtered to Halal standards. […] All of our beefiness products are certified Halal.
Courtnet Capps, Ecommerce Support Specialist, Creekstone Farms
Recall – certification is a procedure by which a third political party inspects to verify that beef is actually being slaughtered in halal fashion, according to some authority on fiqh. Y'all tin can certainly disagree with that authority, in which case you would not trust that certification. Certification costs coin, so it is understandable is a supplier would not desire to pay for certification in some instances. The halal potency for Creekstone is Halal Transactions of Omaha and you can decide how authoritative they are for yourself – equally Email 2 says, you tin inquire directly at info@halaltransactions.org. You can too visit their website for more information.
Based on the above emails, nonetheless, we take a all-time of both worlds confirmation that all Creekstone beef, not just some, is both slaughtered and certified halal.
UPDATE (MAY 2021)
This update addresses some contend on WhatsApp groups about whether ALL beef really is halal or not. The curt version is: I found no evidence to assume it is not halal. Scroll downward below for the original mail service from Jan 2020.
On several halal WhatsApp groups, including the WhatsApp group for Halal.ist (click this link to join), some word has arisen which casts some uncertainty on Creekstone.
https://conversation.whatsapp.com/KXvkWfZCrs4GfFovBzugVE
WhatsApp link to bring together the Halal.ist grouping, where nosotros discuss halal restaurants in California, Texas, Illinois, and other metropolitan areas
The basic supposition until now has been that ALL of creekstone beef is slaughtered in the aforementioned way, by a Muslim. Yet, it was known that Creekstone does not certify all of their beef product lines as Halal (via HTO). Only some of their beef production lines are marketed every bit halal, so Creekstone only pays for certification for those product lines. The assumption of all beef being slaughtered in the same fashion is why generally, Creekstone beefiness is considered to be halal regardless of whether the actual beef production has been certified halal. For example, the beef used by Dog Haus comes in Creekstone boxes merely these boxes are not explicitly marked as halal certified.
Continue in mind that the definition of halal is the method of slaughter. Certification does not brand it halal – certification merely verifies that it is halal.
Hither are the two key WhatsApp letters that accept caused the current controversy:
[ane] Creekstone is now questionable. Previously it was understood that all their meat is halal even if it labeled as such. Recently it was brought to light past reliable sources (I previously mentioned in this group) that is not ever the instance and they have both halal and non-halal meat. The vendors/ restaurants have to particularly inquire for halal meat (which many do) for them to supply it to them. Otherwise you lot would have to assume that not every creekstone is halal unfortunately
[2] Salaams. This was based on a clubhouse give-and-take featuring Sameer Samsart (Sameer's Eats) and Shahed Amanullah (Zabihah.com) who both shared offset hand accounts of talking to eatery (steak business firm) owners who gild from creekstone directly likewise as butcher within creekstone facility on e coast. Sameer besides took a tour inside and saw separate halal slaughter department and was told they only bring in the muslim "blessers" to practise the islamic slaughter when they have halal orders to fill. They clearly stated that not ALL creekstone beef was slaughtered according to Islamic exercise and only some based on orders they take. This is different from what the creekstone rep stated via electronic mail which I'yard sure some of you have seen which stated that ALL beef is slaughtered as halal just non all are labeled or given the halal document. Thus there is clear dubiousness on the thing. Recommend to enquire each respective restaurant if they order specifically halal meat from creekstone. Some steak houses do request information technology based on their demand. But Doubtful that all restaurants do that. So unfortunately nosotros cannot assume all creekstone is halal.
(Halal.ist WhatsApp group, May 13, 2021 – cross posted from Bay Area Halal Foodies and SoCal Halal)
This caused quite a stir, equally one might expect!
The key bespeak existence made here is that it is possible that non all the beef is slaughtered by a Muslim. In response, Muslim blogger Zain provided a link to his extensive analysis from May 2020 in which he analyzed other critiques of Creekstone'south certification. This is an excellent postal service that goes into detail to prove that Creekstone does indeed have Muslim slaughtermen on payroll and that the methodology of Halal Transactions of Omaha (HTO) is Islamically mainstream (though in that location is always room for disagreement, y'all cannot be faulted for deciding that the certification is valid).
However, this article does not accost the basic question. Is ALL beefiness slaughtered at Creekstone washed so by a Muslim? If so, then whether beef from Creekstone is certified or non, does not matter. That's the supposition we all had been making all this time.
There are conflicting anecdotes that go either mode. For instance, a message from ane friend:
I came to know well-nigh this a few years ago at a eating house in Vegas and they said the same thing. At which point I called creekstone to only become confirmation of the to a higher place.
and in reply, a message from another friend:
I was in Vegas the week before Ranadhan and actually I was told exactly the opposiote [sic]. Same Restaurant. The Eatery told me it was Halal.
This confusion could stem from the aforementioned bones issue of assuming all beef is halal vs only knowing for sure that the certified beef is halal. Neither of the friends in a higher place was able to inspect the actual box from which their steaks came, to see if information technology had the halal certification.
People take asked Creekstone this question directly in the intervening years since the original Muslim Eater revelation. For case, see this screenshot of a response from Creekstone in May 2020, shared on WhatsApp, and also posted to Reddit:
This linguistic communication used by Mrs. Every is boilerplate, equally other people have likewise emailed and gotten near-identical replies. The key statement here is "All beefiness products here are slaughtered co-ordinate to the same standards for certification." This message was dated May 2020, only others accept received similar messages earlier, in October 2018. So Creekstone has been consistent in their reply.
Today, May 14, 2021, I accept emailed Creekstone with my own question, in which I have tried to exist more straight:
Our understand [sic] was that all your beefiness products are slaughtered in the same style, with a Muslim slaughterman, only the resulting meat is packaged into unlike product lines, some of which are then certified by Halal Transactions of Omaha, and other product lines which are not certified. Even so, all of Creekstone'south beefiness products are indeed slaughtered in the same way past a Muslim slaughterman.
Is our agreement correct? Recently a rumor has arisen that says the opposite – that some of your beefiness products are not slaughtered in the Muslim style. Appropriately, merely the products explicitly certified every bit halal are the ones which tin can exist definitively assumed to exist halal, and whatever beef production from Creekstone not labeled as certified, may in fact non have been slaughtered by a Muslim.
Please advise as to which of these scenarios is correct. As you might imagine there is a very large degree of interest in the Muslim community, with repercussions for many restaurants who currently bask loyal Muslim clientele due to Creekstone sourcing of beef.
I am hoping for a response next week and volition update the post. However, in the meantime, what do all of the states post-Eid halal-hungry folks do?
I am non a scholar. I can only share my reasoning, with the understanding that it may change as new information comes to light.
First, the messages on WhatsApp are not first-person narratives. At least ane person has directly contradicted them, pointing out that Creekstone doesn't have any facilities on the E Coast (I take not verified this one way or the other). I have reached out to the individuals named in the messages and volition besides update this post if I get new information back.
Second, nosotros have a reliable history of Creekstone stating that ALL their beef is slaughtered in the same manner, for halal certification. This is a direct source, if slightly outdated (the most contempo being most a twelvemonth agone, unless I become a reply to my enquiry).
Accordingly, I am personally inclined to go along to trust that all beef is halal at Creekstone. That could change overnight if and when I get a reply to whatever of my inquiries. However, at present, I don't think that the brunt of proof has been met. I would need a first-hand confirmation. Otherwise, it is no more than an Internet rumor.
Your mileage may and surely does vary. I will update this postal service with any information I receive. My ain thinking may evolve also. But for now – I plan to enjoy a hot dog at Domestic dog Haus this weekend. And I will keep Creekstone restaurants on the map for the time being.
Original Post (January 2020):
Creekstone Farms is certified by Halal Transactions of Omaha. All their beefiness is slaughtered according to the same halal method, but just beefiness packaged for explicit Halal branding is certified. Ever telephone call alee to verify that they all the same use Creekstone beef (and for which dishes). However, meat at BBQ restaurants is often contaminated by preparation alongside pork, even when using halal origin beefiness.
MuslimEater.com arrived on the halal blogging scene in 2015 with an extensive postal service that beginning introduced Creekstone to the Muslim community. MuslimEater has summarized all the information about Creekstone into an charabanc titled, Everything Yous Demand To Know About Creekstone Farms Beef Being Halal. In that location's also a list of restaurants using Creekstone, but this list is dated and is not likely accurate today (but is useful every bit a starting point). Equally MuslimEater notes in that post:
This list is based off of searching for "Creekstone" on Google and Yelp. And then information technology may not be totally upwardly to appointment, is ever subject to change, is commonly for select beef items on menus merely, and requires calling ahead to verify with each restaurant availability and no cantankerous contamination of meats or use of alcohol in dishes.
http://muslimeater.com/2014/06/09/the-ultimate-list-of-restaurants-that-carry-creekstone-farms-beef/
For other posts by MuslimEater about Creekstone, including the story of how the visitor stood firm in the face up of Islamophobia, see the other posts at MuslimEater.com.
Source: http://www.halal.ist/creekstone-farms/