Friday, 22 March 2019

Why Halal Certified Meals Are So Important To Muslims

By Brian King


Every detail of the day to day lives of Muslims is regulated by the Islamic Law. This law has particularly strict instructions regarding what Muslims may eat and how their food must be prepared. Even the manufacturing and packaging of food is covered. This is important because food is not just nourishment for Muslims. It also has a profound impact on the spirit and moral character. This is why Muslims absolutely insist upon eating only Halal certified meals.

Halaal certification is handled by Halaal Councils. They do not grant certification easily and go to great lengths to make sure that applicants comply with all the requirements applicable to Halaal food. Certification is a lengthy process and certification is only granted for one year at a time. Infringements of any rule will certainly lead to the immediate cancellation of the Halaal certification.

Certain types of food are utterly forbidden by the Islamic Law. No Muslim may consume any pork products at all. They may also not consume any type of alcohol. Even medicines containing alcohol is forbidden. Derivatives and extracts used during the preparation of food must be from specially approved abattoirs. The standards at these abattoirs are extremely strict and there are Moslems inspectors present during every step of the process in order to ensure that the rules are followed to the letter.

Apart from using approved ingredients, even the process whereby food is manufactured, packaged and prepared is subjected to many rules. There may never be cross contamination between Halaal and other food. Contaminated food must be discarded immediately. Separate utensils, containers and tools must be used in the preparation of Halaal food. These must be cleaned and stored separately too, using separate facilities such as wash basis or dish washing machines.

Surprisingly, applicants for Halaal certification do not have to be Muslims, nor do they have to employ Muslims. As long as they are able and equipped to adhere to the strict rules contained in the Islamic Law, they can qualify for certification. They are not restricted to the preparation or manufacturing of Halaal food only, but they must have measure in place to make sure that no cross contamination occurs.

It is interesting to note that it is not only Muslims that prefer or insist upon Halaal food. There are numerous people from other religions and beliefs that also prefer this food. In many cases this is because they know that this food has been manufactured, prepared and packaged under very strict conditions of hygiene. They also know that Halaal food uses only the very best ingredients.

There are millions of people that prefer or insist upon Halaal food. It is a very profitable market and it is to be expected that there will be those that try to convince consumers that their food is Halaal while it is not. There are official websites where consumers can check whether specific restaurants or food outlets have been granted certification. The packaging of other food must also display the logo of the Halaal Council.

There is no downside to the consumption of Halaal food. It is healthy and the standards maintained during preparation and manufacturing are extremely high. For Muslims, adherence to the rules related to food is an integral and important part of their spiritual lives.




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