An honest description of the method, including its limits.
A sign in a window saying "halal" carries no legal weight in France. The word is not protected, no public authority controls its use in restaurants, and certification is handled by private bodies applying their own standards. The result is that a diner has no straightforward way to tell a restaurant holding a current certificate from one that simply put up a sign.
HalalSpot.fr does not settle that question. It makes the evidence visible: what each establishment provided, who issued it, and whether we checked.
Establishments are added from the public lists published by certification bodies, and from the brands' own websites when a chain states which of its outlets are halal. We read these sources directly rather than copying other directories, and we record the date on which we read them.
Nothing in a listing is invented. Where we have no information — no phone number, no opening hours, no photograph — the listing shows nothing rather than a plausible guess.
Certificate from a body — the establishment is on the public list of AVS or ARGML. This is the strongest signal the directory carries, because it comes from a third party that inspected the premises.
Declared by the brand — a chain says on its own website that this outlet serves halal food, without naming a certifying body. We label it as a declaration rather than a certificate, because that is what it is.
Verified by us — we contacted the issuing body and confirmed the certificate is current, with its expiry date. This check is what the seal on a listing means, and it is the only claim the site makes in its own name.
We issue no certification, and we do not intend to. We give no religious ruling on whether a given practice is acceptable — standards differ between bodies on stunning, on alcohol served on the premises, on the separation of preparation areas, and those differences are for you and the establishment to discuss.
We do not publish customer reviews. Fabricated reviews are a well-documented problem in restaurant directories, and under French consumer law a review presented as genuine when it is not is deceptive in all circumstances. Rather than police that, we have left it out.
We do not sell better placement disguised as editorial merit. Where an establishment has paid for prominence, it is marked as such.
If a listing is out of date, if an establishment has closed, or if a certificate has lapsed, tell us and we will correct it. Corrections are free and do not depend on any payment.
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