Halal Outbreak!

Breaking news! Exclusive to LGF! United States military has been making halal meals available to US servicemen since 1996! Army Times reports:

Kosher, halal MREs feed religious diversity

By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 22, 2010 6:46:17 EDT

Jewish troops observing the Passover holiday cannot consume bread or — in some traditions — beans and corn or their derivatives, making it difficult for deployed soldiers to comply with their religious obligations.

J & M© Foods MRE

[…]

These are not the only rations tailored to support religious observance. Year-round, the DLA’s Defense Supply Center Philadelphia ships thousands of halal and kosher rations for Muslim and Jewish troops, as well as detainees and foreign militaries.

In 2009, the center distributed 204,000 kosher meals and 1.32 million halal meals, according to Jim Lecollier, chief of DSCP’s individual rations branch. For this Passover, it has distributed more than 7,500 Passover meals and a number of related kits used to conduct a ritual feast called a seder. The kits are full of Passover-specific foods and religious materials.

Kosher and halal meals cost the Pentagon roughly the same as other MREs, $86 per case of 12, Lecollier said. The kosher-for-Passover meals cost more, $126 for a case of 12.

[…]

While halal and kosher standards both prohibit some items, such as pork, the two standards are not interchangeable. Halal foods cannot contain alcohol, and kosher foods cannot contain shellfish or mix meat and dairy.

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My Own Meals, a Deerfield, Ill., company, manufactures Glatt kosher MREs and — under its JŸ&ŸM Food Products division — Dhabiha halal MREs, company President Mary Anne Jackson said.

But the meals are not always easy for the troops to locate when their unit is deploying rapidly and has no inventory. In some cases, soldiers and their relatives have contacted Jackson directly to locate or order meals.

“For the most part, there are kosher and halal meals in theater at all times,” Jackson said. “If someone tells you there aren’t, they’re wrong. They’re in Kuwait, they’re in [United Arab Emirates], Iraq, Afghanistan. They’re everywhere.”

My Own Meals, which has contracted with U.S. military since 1996, also makes its kosher and halal meals for grocery stores, universities and prisons.

Read the whole thing!

Also see Operational Rations - Meal, Religious, Kosher/Halal from the Defense Logistics Agency!

All meal cartons are labeled in both English and Arabic. Please click on the links to view the following documents.

Halal Industrial Production Standards Manual

This document was written by Dr. Muhammad Munir Chaudry, Mary Anne Jackson, Mohammad Mazhar Hussaini, and Dr. Mian Nadeem Riaz, and is copyright protected by My Own Meals, Inc. It may be reproduced electronically or physically provided if a.) It is reproduced in its entirety including all pages describing products and authors b.) full credit is given authors. It is reproduced here by DLA Troop Support with written permission.

Halal Summary

This document is the property of My Own Meals, Inc and reproduced here with their permission.

Don’t forget to visit J&M© foods to learn more about halal MREs for US servicemembers!

MREs (Meals, Ready-To-Eat)
J&M Food Products Company created and supplies the US Military with its halal ration needs.

J&M® dhabiha halal US military rations are for an individual soldier’s use and differ from standard military-issue rations called Meals, Ready-To-Eat (MREs). Unlike standard MREs, components in the halal rations are commercial products in commercial packaging with brand names you know. Unlike standard MREs which are produced and then stored for about 3 or more years before being sent to men and women in the armed services to eat in the field, J&M® dhabiha halal US rations are assembled and shipped to sailors, soldiers, airmen/women, and marines to enjoy right away.