Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- Muslims are allowed to eat the food prepared by any human being as long as it is clean, healthy and prepared with halal (lawful) ingredients.
2- It is permissible to use the plates and utensils which were previously used in serving haram food and drinks as long as they are properly washed in a way that removes all the traces of the haram food or drink
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Our religion is simple and natural, and teaches us to deal with all people fairly and justly; halal is halal and haram is haram regardless of whether it is provided by a Muslim or a non-Muslim. The laws of Allah do not discriminate among people.
It may be illuminating to know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions used to eat food that had been prepared by their pagan relatives and friends; they only avoided those foods which are forbidden in Islam.
With this in mind, there will be nothing wrong with the food you eat as long as the people who prepare the food do clean the kitchen utensils.
It is practically difficult to have Muslim utensils inside the company or western restaurants, and based on this Muslim scholars state that it is permissible to use the plates and utensils which were previously used in serving haram food and drinks as long as they are properly washed in a way that removes all the traces of the haram food or drink.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.