Halal market expansion raises questions of Halal fraud

MUSLIMS CLAMP DOWN ON HALAL FRAUD
When most people go shopping for meat, they don’t put much thought into the task beyond the quality and the price.

Show the same meat to observant Muslims, and they will ask you a whole slew of questions: is the meat from an animal that can be eaten; was it slaughtered properly; did someone say a blessing before it was slaughtered; was it marinated in alcohol; did it come into contact with wine?

The industry of halal, foods that are permitted for consumption according to Muslim law is gaining a strong foothold – both in the United States and beyond – and has an estimated global turnover of $580 billion a year, catering for many non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

But the swell in demand for halal products has given rise to FRAUD (illegal deception), where companies and exporters are labeling foods as halal, when, in fact, this is not the case.

The problem is causing Muslims worldwide to rethink the halal certification process and minimize instances in which Muslim beliefs are being exploited for the sake of a fast buck.

With this in mind, the World Halal Forum, which convened in Malaysia at the beginning of May, has established an International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHIA), which aims to counter halal deception (dishonest) and standardize halal regulations (Who is the syariah panelist?).

The alliance technically works on a voluntary basis in which companies will adopt the IHI standards (?). If a halal certifier is recognized by the IHI, this will give them more credibility (?) in the eyes of the consumer.

“This is a group of people who have no vested interest except for integrity,” Nordin Abdullah (Kaseh Dia?), deputy chairman of the World Halal Forum, told The Media Line.

Islam currently has some 1.5 billion followers, many of whom are observant, and their numbers are continuously increasing. Food manufacturers have a vested economic interest in labeling a product permissible for consumption by Muslims, since it can boost the sales considerably.

Up until now there has been no centralized body that defines the standards of halal and accredits certification organizations. (How far effectiveness & effeciency of MS 1500:2004?)

The lack of order in the halal certification industry has been problematic in some countries, including the Middle East, home to a significant percentage of the world’s Muslim population.

The U.S., surprisingly, has a relatively good record on halal certification, but there have been problems there too, and Muslims are now trying to make the process more systematic. “Especially now, with the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, there’s an increase in demand for American goods in the Muslim world,” says Jalel Aossey, director of business development at Midamar, a U.S.-based company which manufactures and exports halal foods.

Manufacturing companies are supplying to the Middle East and they are seeking halal certification, he says. While truth in labeling laws in the U.S. is quite stringent and any false information can involve heavy penalties, the laws regarding food exports are more lax (not strict).

Aossey explains that, “Many exporter consolidators buy American food products that are knowingly not halal and they will put either a sticker on it or they will get a supposed halal certifier that will give them a certificate. That certificate is separate from the product and they send that product overseas. The importer, in Arab countries in particular, needs that certificate in order to clear the goods and show that it’s halal.”

The vast majority of U.S. food products are not identified on their packaging as halal, he says. However, the certificate will say it is a halal product slaughtered according to Muslim law and that slip of paper makes the products permissible for Muslims. “You can go to any supermarket in the Middle East and find American goods that are being sold as halal, but you would never find that product sold as halal in the United States,” Aossey says. “I think it would be shocking if people really knew how few products are actually halal in this part of the world that are being sold as such.”

Consumers in the Middle East are becoming increasingly aware of this problem and are being asked to play a more active role in determining what is permissible according to Islamic law.

Midamar is creating a consumer organization, which will contact American food manufacturers and ask them in writing whether their foods are halal or not. It is a relatively simple process to find out whether a certificate is legitimate or not, Aossey says. If the American manufacturer says it does not produce halal products, but it is reaching countries overseas as halal, this indicates that someone in the U.S. is “making” the product halal before it leaves the country.

In some ways, the halal industry is learning from the Jewish kosher industry, in which products have to be identified as kosher directly on the packages. “The product is only kosher if identified with the seal on the package. They do not accept paper certificates for obvious reasons, as the halal industry is learning now,” Aossey says.

Surprisingly, Southeast Asian countries and not the Middle East are spearheading efforts to make the halal certification more regulated. In Malaysia, for example, there is already a system in place where a consumer can pull a product off a shelf in the supermarket and send the number of the barcode in a text message to a central database. The consumer then receives a text message back informing him or her whether the product is registered with the Malaysian halal certification authority or not.

Halal fraud can be done with malice or it can be purely accidental, Abdullah says.

“Maybe there are some clever marketing people who want to put a halal logo on a product because it then sells better in the Middle East, without knowing what this really represents,” he says. “The other level is people who know there are pork-based components in the product and do it anyway. Every few weeks we find a company that does that. We think that with the increase of Internet usage those companies will find it’s not worth the risk, because people send an e-mail out, and the information gets around very quickly.”

On the other hand, Abdullah says, this is being abused for purposes of slander (untrue), where people will accuse a company – perhaps a competitor – of halal fraud when in fact there is nothing wrong with their conduct. “The International Halal Integrity Alliance is playing an increasingly regulatory role because it protects the companies that are doing things properly and it also protects the consumer (How?),” he says.

Aossey believes that while some people in the industry are intentionally practicing deception, there is also a lack of education about what it takes for a food product to be halal certified. “Some companies think it’s just paperwork. They don’t understand there’s a true process from the slaughter to the processing,” he says.


Sumber:

http://www.halalfocus.com/artman2/publish/food-manufacturing/Halal_market_expansion_raises_questions_of_Halal_fraud.shtml

Jom kenali akta ber'sangkut'an perkara Halal

Acts on Halal Logo

1. Animal Rules 1962

The Department of Veterinary Services, Malaysia and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) must inspect all meat products that are to be transported into the country.

An inspection or audit must be carried out once every two years (is it competent enough?)

*Abdullah Abas : perlukah Ordinan ini disemak semula memandangkan ianya telah diperkenalkan sejak 1962 (lebih kurang 46 tahun lalu), dan agak ketinggalan & kekurangan dari aspek penemuan-penemuan masa kini berkenaan kesihatan haiwan yang semakin bertambah?

2. Trade Description Act 1972

- Section 10 and 11 provided for:

1. Protection of consumers from any unlawful and unethical trade and business practices



2. Enforce of the act via the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs



3. Prohibition of the use of false trade description and price for goods and services



4. Obtaining, with the Minister’s Authority, necessary information before products are supplied, offered for sales or traded.



5. Taking action, punishing and penalising those guilty of offences.

3. Trade Description Order (The Usage of Halal) 1975 and Trade Description Order (Food Labelling)

“Halal”, “Ditanggung Halal” (Guaranteed Halal), “Makanan Islam” (Muslim Food) or similar statements shall mean halal as provided in the Syariah Law.

“Syariah Law” is Islamic law according to the four main Mazhabs (denominations) – Shafie, Maliki, Hambali dan Hanafi as agreed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-raja).

“Halal”, “Ditanggung Halal” (Guaranteed Halal), “Makanan Islam” (Muslim Food) or similar statements when used to describe any food items will mean that the food :

1. not contain any parts from animals considered haram prohibited for consumption in Islamic Law, or are not slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic practice.

2. Does not contain any ingredients which are deemed unclean (najis) according to Islamic Law.

3. Are not prepared or processed using any utensils, machinery or tools, which are contaminated with items, considered unclean (najis) according to Islamic Law.

4. During preparation, processing or storage, did not touch or place near any items considered unclean (najis) and prohibited (haram) within the Islamic Law.

sumber : http://www.gov.my/MyGov/BI/Directory/Business/BusinessByIndustry/AgricultureAndAgroBasedIndustry/AgroHalalCertification/AgroActOnHalal/

pengenalan kod nombor E

E- means EC (European communities) E-Numbers are assigned to various food additives. Some E-Numbers are banned in some countries. In UK Numbers without E prefix are allowed but may not be allowed in other country. We are getting lot of e-mails from our Muslims brother and sisters inquiring about Halal status of E-Numbers, so we decided to add to our web site.

E-Numbers are divided into following category:

E-Numbers Food Additives
100-180 Colors
200-252 Preservatives
260-297 Acidities
300-385 Antioxidant
400-429 Thickeners
430-499 Emulsifiers
620-640 Flavor Enhancer
950-967 Sweeteners

HARAM E – NUMBERS: The following ingredients are considered as Haram:
E 120: Cochineal (red color from insects) according to Hanafi Muzhab
E 441: Gelatin, if it is from pig
E 542: Edible Bone Phosphate if it is from pork bones

We have carefully checked these ingredients based on our knowledge of US food industry. Sources of food ingredients in different countries may be different and we request you to check them out by contacting the food ingredient suppliers and food manufacturer in your country.

Warning: Some ingredients are not 100% pure. Hidden ingredients or processing aid ingredients are added to help dissolve or mix or process a food ingredient in a food system. These hidden ingredients are not reported along the food ingredients names or ingredients statement of a food product where they use if they fall under regulatory allowance such as a maximum 2% of the total formula of a food ingredient or food product in US.

For example Beta Carotene food ingredient in US is not 100% pure, it is 98% pure and 2% may include vegetable oil or fish gelatin. Please verify the Halal status of the hidden ingredients from food ingredients suppliers or food manufacturer in your country.

sumber :

http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/Enumbers.do?menu=Enumbers&eventAction=init

Jom g Karnival Halal Kelantan 2008

Dewasa ini, perkembangan industri halal telah berkembang dengan pesatnya samada di dalam atau di luar negara. Perkembangan yang pesat ini didorong oleh tahap kesedaran yang tinggi di kalangan umat Islam di seluruh dunia tentang penggunaan logo halal bagi barangan umat islam. Sebagai natijahnya, pelbagai program telah diadakan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu contohnya, Konvensyen Halal, Halal Showcase, World Halal Forum, National Halal Forum dan banyak lagi adalah semata-mata untuk menyediakan satu platform atau medium kepada pengusaha halal mengetengahkan produk mereka diperingkat yang lebih global. Di samping itu program-program tersebut juga dapat memberi informasi terbaru kepada pengguna tentang perkembangan industri halal di peringkat dunia. Oleh yang demikian, Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Kelantan yang merupakan satu badan yang diberi kuasa untuk mengurus pensijilan halal di negeri ini, juga tidak ketinggalan akan turut mengadakan program Karnival Halal Kelantan 2008 buat kali ke4 bagi memastikan para pengusaha dan pengguna halal negeri Kelantan tidak ketinggalan dengan arus perkembangan industri halal. Dengan tema “CAKNA HALAL MEMBAWA BERKAT”, ia akan berlangsung dari 20 hingga 26 Rejab 1429H/ 23 hingga 29 Julai 2008 bertempat di Dataran Stadium Sultan Muhammad Ke IV.

Sebarang pertanyaan boleh hubungi ,
Sekretariat KarnivalD/A IPPJ Sdn Bhd,Tingkat 25, KOMTAR,80000 Johor Bahru,Johor Darul Ta'zim

Tel: + 6 07 222 1767 / 68 / 64 Fax: + 6 07 222 1786 Email: info@halalkelantan.com.my

sumber : http://www.halalkelantan.com.my/?lang=my&cat=1&id=1&mnu=1

cukupkah sekadar 'Halal'?

BREAD and milk used to be the staple daily diet of the Birmingham scientists whose job it is to make sure the food we buy is safe. These days their time is spent tasting more exotic fare - thanks largely to the influx of new arrivals from Eastern Europe and the Far East.

Jars of meat and sweets from Poland, cola from the Far East and a dried squid from China can all be found in the laboratory of Stewart Davis, principle scientific officer at Birmingham City Laboratories. Stewart, who's in charge of the food and environmental analysis section of the council run laboratory, explains: "Years ago the main things we tested were staples like bread and milk. One person would spend most of their day testing milk samples. But now we're seeing foods we've never seen before. A lot of products are being imported from the Far East and Eastern Europe. I think there are four Polish supermarkets in Erdington alone."

It's Stewart and his team's job to check whether these imports are safe to eat and that they don't contain things like high levels of salt, preservatives or banned colourings. He points out: "I want to make it clear that most of the food we see is safe. But it's our job to make sure all food that's on sale meets the regulations." The use of colourings in foods is carefully controlled because some have been linked to problems like cancer and hyperactivity.

The scientists are currently keeping an eye out for a dye added to some sausages and burgers to make them look fresher called Red 2G, for instance. The European Food Safety Authority has branded the colouring, also known as E128, a 'safety concern' because tests have shown it can cause cancer in rats and mice.

The scientists also check that the food we buy really does contain what it says on the tin. In the past Stewart and his team have discovered vegetarian food containing bits of meat and Halal products containing pork. - though he's keen to point out that that is rare. Sometimes, he says, labels are not in English: "So we have to make sure it contains what it says it does. "If people are buying a diet cola which contains an artificial sweetener called aspartame, for instance, it has to be shown on the label because some people can react to it."

A rise in food allergies means it's more important than ever shoppers are able to read food labels. "Peanut allergies can be very serious for some people so that's the sort of thing we look for," he says, picking up a packet of sweets from Eastern Europe. The packaging bills them as Lobster Tails - not exactly the first thing that springs to mind when you think of peanuts.

But a close look at the list of ingredients, which in this case were in English, shows that the sweets contain them. Sometimes imported food doesn't have any ingredients listed in English. Results which raise concern are passed back to the city's trading standards and environmental health officers who can taken action.

Food labelling is one of the hot topics for food scientists at the moment. Stewart explains: "The big focus these days is on food labelling. "Nutritional labelling is not required, unless you make a claim that a food is low in fat.

"We can test to see whether it is." In fact there's no pulling the wool over Stewart's eyes. Give him a jar of heather honey and he can tell you whether the bees which made it have ever visited a heather plant or if shoppers are being hoodwinked.

"We can analyse the grains of pollen in the honey under a microscope to check whether they come from heather. It's important because heather honey usually fetches a premium price," he adds. Other claims Stewart and his team are investigating include those surrounding so-called superfoods.

Jars of cinnamon are lined up on his desk, which is somewhere between a kitchen and a school science lab. It's been hailed as the latest health food in some quarters because of claims that it can help reduce blood sugar levels and help diabetics. But what people don't realise is that it can also contain a compound called coumarin, which can damage your liver if taken in large doses.

Cinnamon is being sold in capsule form. The levels in different brands can vary widely so the scientists in Garretts Green have been analysing them to discover whether they can create a reliable test. Then they can check that batches of capsules claiming to improve your health aren't actually damaging it.

Stewart's job is never dull. Counterfeit food and drink is another area where his expertise is called in to play. The father of three from Sutton Coldfield says: "We might be asked to test a bath of vodka being sold under the name of a big brand like Smirnoff because there are concerns a landlord could have decanted another brand into the bottle.

"We also get people who've bought booze at car boot sales coming to us because they're worried it's not the real thing. We once had to test a giant magnum of Bacardi someone had bought on eBay. They were convinced something was wrong with it. It turned out to be OK but you can never enjoy something if you've bought it from an uncertain source."

The other major investigations carried out by the food lab is into consumer complaints.

Stewart says sit's one of the most satisfying. On his bookshelf is the sort of gruesome photo album you wouldn't get out at family get togethers. Pictures include a three inch Egyptian locust found in a bag of salad, rodent droppings and a plaster baked into a sliced loaf and neatly chopped into three.

It's Stewart's job to establish what the foreign object is and how it got there.

"You always have to be aware that someone might be trying to get a retailer into trouble," he adds. "The most blatant example I've seen involved someone complaining that they'd found a biro in a burger. It didn't take long to work out that they must have pushed it in themselves. We can tell under a microscope whether something's been baked into a food or added later."

Sometimes, he says, consumers can turn out to be the cause of the problem without even realising!

"We sometimes find that the foreign object people have found in their food is a temporary crown which has fallen out while they've been eating without them even realising!" Or they're worried about nothing. "Sometimes people think they've found a cockroach in their curry and it turns out to be a spice like cardamon. The fibres can sometimes look like an insect."

Stewart adds: "We receive hundreds of food complaints every year. We try to deal with them quickly because obviously people are worried. It's nice when we can reassure people."

sumber : http://www.halalfocus.com/artman2/publish/europe/Making_sure_our_food_is_safe_to_eat.shtml

'Stunning' dibolehkan?

The Opinions of the Ulema on the Permissibility of Stunning Animals

The stunning of animals for halal meat was until recently a non-issue. However, over the past few years many people have mistakenly been informed that stunning animals renders the meat as haram. This is a complete fallacy. As with most things in Islam there are differences of opinion.

The origins of this fallacy originate from a certain halal food authority that has decided not to certify any company that uses meat from stunned animals. On closer inspection of their position it is clear that they are simply implementing this policy as a “caution”. They do not state, and can not state, that the meat from stunned animals is haram. This is because it is well documented that meat of stunned animals is completely halal under certain conditions.

Scholars of fiqh, the people who understand, interpret and explain the shariah, are more or less unanimous that the meat of stunned animals is halal. For those that have been informed that stunning somehow is haram or makes the meat haram, they should question why their opinion contradicts that of the fuqaha. The following are just some of many fatwa stating that stunning is halal.

1. Excerpt of fatwa from the Council for Legal Verdicts at Dar al-Mustafa for Islamic Studies (Yemen).
"Exposing the animal to an electric shock is unlawful in itself. As for the legality of the meat if the situation is as the questioner described – that the animal recovers and returns to its natural state twenty seconds after having been stunned – then it is lawful (halal) even the animal is in a lifeless state at the time of slaughter (such that it cannot see or hear and is unable to move). This is because the shock in itself is not a cause of the animal’s death."

Read the whole fatwa.

2. Excerpt from "Animals in Islam" by Al-Hafiz B.A. Masri
“The main counsel of Islam in the slaughter of animals for food is to do it in the least painful manner. All the Islamic laws on the treatment of animals, including the method of slaughter, are based in all conscience on "the spirit" of compassion, fellow-feeling and benevolence:

"Allah, Who is Blessed and Exalted, has prescribed benevolence toward everything and has ordained that everything be done in the right way; so when you must kill a living being, do it in the proper way - when you slaughter an animal, use the best method and sharpen your knife so as to cause as little pain as possible." (The Sahih Mulsim, 2:156. Also Al-Taaj fi Jaami al-Usool, Vol. 3, p. 110, Cairo Edition. Also Al-Faruo min-al-Kafi, p. 2, and others.)

Failure to stun animals before slaughter causes them pain and suffering. Muslims should give serious thought to whether this is cruelty (Al-Muthiah). If so, then surely the meat from them is unlawful (Haram), or at least, undesirable to eat (Makruh).

Al-Azhar University in Cairo appointed a special committee to decide whether the meat of animals slaughtered after stunning was lawful. The committee consisted of representatives of the four acknowledged Schools of Thought in Islam, i.e. Shafii, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali. The unanimous verdict (Fatwa) of the committee was:

"Muslim countries, by approving the modern method of slaughtering, have no religious objection in their way. This is lawful as long as the new means are 'shar' (Ahadd) and clean and do 'cause bleeding' (Museelah al-damm). If new means of slaughtering are more quick and sharp, their employment is a more desirable thing. It comes under the saying of the Prophet(s) 'God has ordered us to be kind to everything' (Inna'l-laha Kataba-'l-ihsan 'ala kulle Shay'in)." (The History of Azhar, Cairo; 1964; pp. 361-363)."

To crown all verdicts (Fatwa), here is the 'Recommendation' of a pre-eminent Muslim organization of this century - The Muslim World League (Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami). It was founded in Makkah al-Mukarramah in 1962 A.C. (1382 A.H.) with 55 Muslim theologians (Ulama'a), scientists and leaders on its Constituent Council from all over the world. MWL is a member of the United Nations, UNESCO and the UNICEF. In January 1986 it held a joint meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) and made the following 'Recommendation' about pre-slaughter stunning (No 3:1. WHO-EM/FOS/1-E, p. 8):

"Pre-slaughter stunning by electric shock, if proven to lessen the animal's suffering, is lawful, provided that it is carried out with the weakest electric current that directly renders the animal unconscious, and that it neither leads to the animal's death nor renders its meat harmful to the consumer."

3. Egyptian fatwa Committee, December 18th 1978
“If the electro narcosis of the animal or any other anaesthetic procedure helps bleed the animal while weakening its resistance during the bleeding, and if this electro narcosis has no effect on its life (that is to say, if the animal comes back to normal life if the bleeding does not take place) it is allowed to resort to electro narcosis or any other similar type of anaesthetic procedure before the bleeding. The meat of the animal bled in that way is licit”

4. Sheikh al-Hassan bin Al-Siddiq, president of Belguim’s Islamic Coincil of Ulama
“We (the Muslims) do not view ‘direct slaughter’ (the traditional Islamic method) as being unkind to animals, Nevertheless, Islam does not prohibit pre-stunning when necessary… as long as the animal does not die (from the stunning),”

5. Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“As for stunning the animal, it does not make the animal dead, for it is intended only to knock the animal unconscious so that it does not feel pain and it is brought under control. This itself does not render the animal impure and unlawful unless it is dead before slaughter. My own experience with the slaughterhouses is that they do not make use of animals that are already dead before slaughter. Inspectors, who are appointed by the government (in countries such as Canada), do make sure that this is not the case.

As far as the wisdom of stunning is concerned, it is really in conformity with the wisdom established in the Prophetic hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, "Allah has prescribed excellence and compassion in all things, so when you kill, kill well; when you slaughter, slaughter well, and let him sharpen his knife and spare the animal pain."

In conclusion, we are definitely allowed to partake of such meat, especially if we do not find meat provided by Muslims."

6. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Ash-Shinqiti, Director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas
“As for the claims by some scholars that a lot of these animals die as a result of being stunned before having their jugular vein slit; I conducted research on this subject and found that these claims are baseless. This is so because the reports by the general inspector of the US Government confirmed that a lot of animals do not get affected by the stunning so when they are slaughtered, they still experience pain.

Muslim scholars who forbid the consumption of beef based their argument on the assumption that stunning kills the animal before their jugular vein is slit. This is not true according to the report released by the general inspector.”

7. Excerpt from The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia’s (JAKIM) guidelines to halal slaughter

“5.3 STUNNING OF ANIMALS
Stunning of animals prior to slaughter is permitted and shall be in accordance with the requirements below :

5.3.1 Three types of stunners shall be used to stun the animal, namely electrical, mechanical or pneumatic stunner.
5.3.2 The use of the stunning equipment shall be under the control of a Muslim supervisor or a trained Muslim slaughterman or Halal certification authority at all times.
5.3.3 The animal should only be stunned temporarily. The stunning should not either kill or cause permanent injury to the animal.
5.3.4 Gadgets that are used to stun pigs shall not be used to stun animals for Halal slaughter.”

Conclusion
If after reading this one still believes that stunning an animal (temporarily) renders meat as inedible for being haram, then this is their choice. However, to call it haram and to tell others it is haram flies in the face of logic, reason, the ulema and Islam.

Allah knows best.

sumber : http://www.organic-halal-meat.com/article/fatwa-stunning.html