- HCC Verified means the Halal Community Council checked the place against its published criteria.
- Only HCC grants it, on HCC's own site. East Coast Muslim reads it and cannot grant, sell or change it.
- One owner runs both HCC and East Coast Muslim. We say so wherever the badge is explained.
- HCC charges businesses a yearly fee for verification. Paying HCC does not buy a better place on East Coast Muslim.
- If we have no good reading from HCC's site for 72 hours, every badge hides until we do.
- A concern about an HCC Verified place goes to HCC's own form.
Last updated October 30, 2026.
What the badge means
The Halal Community Council (HCC) has checked this place against its published criteria. You can read the criteria on HCC's site: The HCC standard.
The badge on a listing links to HCC's own verify page for that business, so you can see the record for yourself.
Following that link, or "Raise a concern with HCC", takes you to HCC's own site. HCC may record the click, under HCC's own privacy policy. East Coast Muslim sends HCC nothing about you.
It is the strongest label on the site, because a verifying body stands behind it and not only the owner's word. It is not East Coast Muslim's own verdict, and it is not a New York state certification.
Who grants it
Only the Halal Community Council, on its own site at halalcommunitycouncil.com. East Coast Muslim reads HCC's list of verified places. No screen on this site can grant, sell, change or extend the badge, and buying a placement here does not buy it.
The same owner runs both
One owner runs both the Halal Community Council and East Coast Muslim. Federal endorsement rules expect a site to disclose a connection like this, and it is the honest thing to say. You will find this disclosure beside the badge and on this page.
HCC charges businesses a yearly fee for verification. Paying HCC does not buy a better place on East Coast Muslim.
What keeps the two jobs apart:
- HCC verifies. East Coast Muslim reports. The two jobs stay separate.
- The badge comes only from HCC's own records, matched to the exact listing HCC verified, never to a name that merely looks the same.
- Payment on this site never adds the badge, and the badge is never sold here.
- Concerns about a verified place go to HCC's case system, not to us.
How the badge stays current
- Every night, and whenever HCC's site signals a change, we read HCC's list of verified places.
- A badge shows only while HCC lists the place as verified and that verification has not expired.
- If we cannot get a good reading from HCC's site for 72 hours, every HCC badge on this site hides until we can. A badge HCC has withdrawn cannot linger here.
- HCC shares only what the badge needs: the business name, its verification code, its status and level, its start and end dates, its website, and the listing on this site it verified. Nothing about people.
Where HCC verifies
HCC is starting in South Carolina, with Myrtle Beach first. The badge appears only once HCC has verified places. Until then, the other three labels carry the site.
New York registers halal certifiers. Until it is clear whether HCC must register there, HCC Verified does not show on paid New York listings.
If you have a concern
Use "Raise a concern with HCC" on the place's page. It opens HCC's own concern form: Share a concern with HCC.
HCC keeps every case in its own system. Nothing about your concern is stored on East Coast Muslim.
For businesses
Verification is HCC's work, done on HCC's site. To ask about being verified, contact HCC through halalcommunitycouncil.com.
To see how HCC Verified sits beside the other labels, read How we label halal.