uk-british-group-creates-intl-halal-certification-programme

By Geraldine Chahine, Radio Lite RM

A group of scholars in the UK has created what they say is a halal certification program that has the potential to become the international standard for the global food industry and make life easier for the world’s 1.6 billion Muslim consumers.

The Halal Authority Board (HAB) in the UK has designed what they say is a “realistic and practical” certification scheme that regulates the production of halal products in accordance with Islamic law and modern food processing.

The hope is that a worldwide, uniform standard would streamline the process for halal food production and end the confusion among consumers who are confronted with a patchwork of different standards in the market, says HAB.

The main pillars of the certification program will include the production, processing and preparation of halal foods, particularly meat.

The HAB’s certification program has the backing of 950 of the UK’s 1,400 mosques. The Shariah board itself is made up of 13 Islamic scholars who represent a wide cross-section of the Muslim community.

The system will also be overseen by third-party certification group Cert ID Europe.

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Partnership promotes a global halal certification www.canadianmanufacturing.com

Nuneaton, U.K. – Certification groups have formed a partnership to offer a new worldwide standard for Halal certification for the food industry.

Cert ID Europe, a U.K.-based certification business, and the Hijaz Group of Saudi Arabia recently formed the Halal Authority Board (HAB) to offer this new standard for food and beverage producers.

A story on FoodNavigator.com reports that currently Halal certification standards are not all the same. In addition, there is no one type of Muslim consumer – even among that community there are different opinions on what constitutes Halal.

On top of that, Halal requirements are based on the Koran and Sharia laws that date back more than 1,500 years. So producing Halal foods in today’s world is not as simple as it seems.

Clear guidelines

HAB’s new standard offers the industry realistic and clear guidelines, which it says is especially useful for a market that is estimated to be worth more than US$600 billion and includes more than 1.6 billion consumers worldwide.

The standard was created with 13 well-known Islamic scholars to represent a wide cross-section of the Muslim community, reports FoodNavigator.com.

HAB says the new standard also brings together different Halal standards from around the world, “giving full assurance to Muslim consumers that the products are Halal wherever they are in the world.”

The standard sets out guidelines on all aspects of production, including food health and safety regulations, storage, delivery, cleaning and cleansing, which takes into account scientific developments to prevent contamination from pork and other unacceptable derivatives.

Currently, there are five modules covering:

1. Primary Production of Livestock;
2. Primary Processing of Livestock, which includes guidelines on cleaning and cleansing; slaughter of livestock, packaging and labelling.
3. Further Processing;
4. Logistics;
5. Foodservice, which covers the preparation of Halal foods.

The American Halal Association reports as a matter of due diligence to inform consumers.

The Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that ensures the nation’s meat and poultry supplies are correctly labeled and packaged. Temporary approvals can be granted by the Labeling and Program Delivery Division (LPDD) for up to 180 days to a company that has a need to correct a deficient label. It gives time for the company to take corrective action, but unfortunately the consumers may be misled by the faulty packaging distributed in that time frame.

In August 2011, an on site USDA inspector for Park Farms questioned the usage of a label on Halal Pride brand chicken marked “Hand Slaughtered” that was actually initially machine killed. By September 2011, Halal Pride obtained a temporary approval to use 125,000 labels from the LPDD in Washington. Again, the on-site USDA inspector was uncomfortable and felt it was “misleading to the consumer” and questioned FSIS about using the label. He received his answer in Nov, 2011 and the deficient labels were approved for use until Jan 2012.

It is ambiguity like this that can mislead Halal consumers about the process by which their food is packaged and labeled. Read the attached Freedom of Information Act letter. FOIA 12-42 Responsive records Applied

HalalFocus interviews Hans C. Kastensmith (HCK), chairman and CEO, InstantLabs a machine they have designed called the Hunter RT PCR that can enable food producers to test products themselves for traces of porcine DNA. This will be a cost effective way for food producers to get results in the same day at their own facility. It will also be of use to Halal certifiers that may not have access to the labs and testing facilities necessary in modern food production, to guarantee Halal food is not contaminated with pork DNA in the production line

HF: Tell me about the Hunter.  Why did you apply Real Time PCR (qPCR) to the food safety sector?

HCK: First, the founders of InstantLabs have decades of experience in healthcare.  Although RT-PCR has important role in treating patients, InstantLabs wanted to prevent people from getting sick in the first place.  The same advantage that RT-PCR brings to medicine; rapid accurate identification of pathogens, can also be brought to food safety.  No longer do you have to wait days for an answer; now results can be ready in hours.

Food producers want to ensure a safe and healthy food supply.  There is growing public awareness about food safety as well as about healthy and nutritious foods.  Food-borne illness kills thousands per year.

There are many approaches to food testing, and all the current methods have trade-offs:  Immunoassay tests are inexpensive and fast, but are not very accurate; culture plates are accurate but take days for results; and traditional qPCR is fast and accurate but is expensive and requires a high level of skill to operate.

So the ideal food safety test would have the following characteristics:

-reduce the complexity of the test;

-simplify the sample enrichment process;

-automate or eliminate the DNA acquisition phase;

-provide a flexible platform that could start tests on demand;

-tailor the testing to industry needs;

-maintain the ‘gold standard’ accuracy of qPCR.

Hunter, the InstantLabs qPCR machine, has been designed for ease of use and for delivering results at the point of need.  So now food producers can test their own products and have the results the same day, and not have to wait for results while the food is warehoused.

InstantLabs has developed tests for the food safety market – Salmonella species, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, E Coli 0157 H7 (along with the EAE gene and the STEC-producing variants), and Listeria Monocytogenes.  We only recently developed a Pork DNA test, which actually is much simpler and shorter (two hours) compared to the pathogen tests.

HF: So how are you applying this to Halal testing?

HCK: Just as hazard reduction procedures (good sanitation, worker training, cleanliness, etc.) are the most important items in food safety, proper respect and procedures around producing Halal food remain the cornerstone.  However, we now have a way to validate that all proper procedures related to pork contamination have been followed.

Real-Time PCR can detect tiny amounts of porcine contamination.  This contamination may not be the result of malfeasance.  We have found porcine DNA in a surprising array of products that have innocently gone undetected.  For example, the lubricant for food processing machinery is often animal-based and sometimes pork based.  These lubricants can enter the food supply.

In our travels around the Middle East and Southeast Asia there is a growing demand for increased food safety, as in the rest of the world.  Added to that is the desire to be Halal certified.  And since qPCR is a DNA-based method, we decided to develop a pork DNA test which can, in two hours, detect the presence/absence of pork in food products.  We are excited about this test because it represents an introduction of scientific certainty into the Halal process.  Of course this is only part of the Halal certification process, but the accuracy of RT PCR means that if there is pork present in the same, we will detect it.  Introduction of the Hunter system into the Halal certification process also establishes a known standard of testing, since people in the field regard it as the ‘gold standard’ of testing.

HF:  But Halal applies to more than food.  What about testing other items?

HCK: InstantLabs is currently testing food only and using our pork DNA test to see if meats or other foods contain traces of pork.  Frequently we find traces of pork DNA in the lubricants used in the machines that cut or grind or package the Halal foods.  We have done limited testing on cosmetics and have also had positive results.  We want to develop some other tests, which will not be qPCR tests, to detect alcohol and other items which might be considered haram, or forbidden, by the Muslim consumer.

HF:  How has the Muslim community reacted to the introduction of the Hunter?

HCK: With a few exceptions, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.  Most Halal certifiers or Muslim consumer groups welcome a new scientific standard into the certification process.  So we have had great interest not only from certifiers in the U.S. but in Southeast Asia, Canada and the UK.

HF:  How can readers get more information on the Hunter?

HCK: Anyone interested in learning more about the Hunter is welcome to contact Ross Newland, rnewland@instantlabs.com.  Please also take a look at our website (www.instantlabs.com). InstantLabs will have a booth at the Halal & Healthy Show in Istanbul on the 13-16 October 2011, where we hope to meet with international Halal certifiers as well as food producers.

Ross Newland will also be attending the American Muslim Consumer Conference on the 29th October 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

HF:  How large is the Hunter RT PCR machine?

HCK: The Hunter weighs only 8 kilos and has its own IP address, so it can be networked over the Internet.

Philadelphia: In a small industrial space in Upper Darby, Sultan Bhuiyan  watches as one of his workers slides a live chicken upside down into a  metal bracket.

With only the chicken’s head exposed, the man quietly utters the  phrase “in the name of God,” and following the ritual of Islamic law,  brandishes a knife, running it quickly across the chicken’s neck.

He will do this over and over, tenderly stroking the chicken’s  feathers as he takes it from its cage to the bloodstained killing room.

“People come from all over. Some of them will come and watch the animal be killed. Some want to do it themselves,” Bhuiyan said. “The supermarkets sell halal food, but it is not what I consider halal.”

The word halal, which means “allowed” in Arabic, refers to that which is permissible under Islamic law. Like the word kosher in Judaism, it is most commonly associated with food products sanctioned by the religious leadership.

Within the U.S. Muslim community, suspicion has grown in recent years  about meat sold under the halal label as the number of suppliers  expands and standards of animal slaughter get new, modern interpretation  by a growing network of certifying agencies.

Generally speaking, after a short prayer, animals are to be killed  with a sharp blade drawn across the throat. That allows the blood  considered unhealthy to the Muslim diet to drain. In a standard  slaughterhouse, a cow, for example, would be killed with a bolt gun and  then bled.

But with the growth in the U.S. Muslim population in recent decades,  halal foods have become a $20 billion-a-year industry, according to an  estimate from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America – IFANCA – in  Chicago. As more meat is turned out by larger, more efficient  operations, the traditional method of a man and a knife is no longer  considered an absolute necessity by many Muslims.

“The slaughtering of the animal is a pretty simple practice,” said  Zain Abdullah, an associate professor of religion at Temple University.  “But there is a cadre of scholars that Muslims will follow. They  interpret the religion for the community, but there are usually multiple  interpretations.”

In some large-scale slaughterhouses, recordings of prayers are played  over loudspeakers. In others, the only rule is to have a Muslim in the  room when the animal is killed, said Maria Omar, spokeswoman for IFANCA in  Chicago, which acts as a certifying agency for suppliers and as a  consumer-education group.

“It’s no different from the organic market or gluten-free market,”  she said. “When there’s no fixed standards, a lot of people are taken  for a ride. A lot of people don’t even think to ask, what do you mean by  halal?”

A range of Muslim certification agencies has sprung up to sign off on  modern assembly lines where Muslim workers pray as animals are killed  at a quick pace by mechanical blades.

Their argument is primarily economic. As they see it, if every animal  were hand-slaughtered, many Muslims would not be able to afford to eat  halal at all.

“Our community is trying to figure out not only what the standard should be, but what is practical,” Omar said.

As the debate rages on, consumer-protection laws have passed in at  least seven states, including New Jersey. There, halal retailers and  slaughterhouses are required to fill out a detailed questionnaire  regarding everything from the food’s alcohol content to whether the  animal was stunned before slaughter. The survey results must be posted  for public view.

But there is virtually no enforcement for those who run afoul of the laws, Omar said.

The question of what is and isn’t halal extends to many aspects of  Muslim life – from whether women should keep their faces covered to  whether Muslims in Dubai can sell liquor to expatriates.

And for many, machine-slaughtered meat is simply part of living in the modern world.

Ahmad Shadid, a Muslim travel agent in Jersey City, N.J., who books  pilgrimages to Mecca, said he found the idea of questioning the halal  label unsavory.

“Everybody has their own understanding of the religion. This is not  going to change. It’s like, when is the beginning of Ramadan and the end  of Ramadan?” he said. “I have a busy job. I don’t have time to  slaughter my own meat. If the guy says it’s halal, I accept that.”

But some Muslims have rejected eating meat slaughtered by machine.  That is especially true for new immigrants from North Africa and South  Asia, where households commonly slaughter their own animals, Abdullah  said.

“African Muslims in Harlem, they felt compelled to set up their own  African butcher shops,” he said. “For immigrant communities, it’s  religious, but much more it’s a matter of tradition.”

Often times, consumers are left in the dark as to how exactly the animal they’re eating was killed.

The Brown chain of ShopRites, which has 10 stores in Pennsylvania and  New Jersey, began expanding their halal offerings in 2005 and are  installing isolated halal butchering rooms and meat cases in their new  stores.

Asked how their meat was slaughtered, co-owner Sandy Brown said she  was not sure because ShopRite buys from a wholesaler and not directly  from a slaughterhouse.

“I’m 99 percent sure it’s hand-slaughtered,” she said. “There’s a  couple of mosques we work with, and whenever we do something new, we  check with them.”

The lack of a unified industry standard is driving suspicion, said  Amr Scott, owner of Quetta Halal Meat Market near Rittenhouse Square and  a strict proponent of hand-slaughtered meat.

“People see a halal label, and they think a Muslim signed off on it,  so it’s OK,” he said. “But everyone has a different standard. It’s  utterly ridiculous.”

For the generations of Muslims who came to the United States in the  1950s and ’60s, detailed questions about what food was halal were not an  issue, because there were almost no halal shops. They traveled hours to  trusted vendors or killed their own.

“I remember my dad would drive to a farm down in Virginia to slaughter his own chickens,” Scott said.

But now, with so many halal suppliers to choose from, those tasked  with determining the rules by which Muslims eat find themselves  answering questions that never would have arisen centuries ago.

At a conference in India earlier this year, Islamic scholars argued  over the validity of chicken plants installing buttons on their assembly  lines so each chicken could be killed by an act of man and not  automation.

Ra’id Abdul-Malik, a teacher at the Association of Islamic Charitable  Projects mosque in West Philadelphia, consults centuries-old writings  to answer questions such as, “Could a Muslim eat an animal hit by a  car?” The answer is yes, as long as the animal is not killed in the  accident but by a knife across the throat after the fact.

“It doesn’t have to be something based on logic,” Abdul-Malik said. “Humans do not always know what is acceptable.”

Always inspiring, get Yvonne’s new book!

by Yvonne M. Maffei, Editor of MyHalalKitchen.com

Over the past year, I’ve been incredibly fortunate, alhamdullilah, to be part of some great changes in our local food movement, particularly in schools.  Invitations and warm welcomes into classrooms and gymnasiums to talk to kids about healthy eating and to share my ideas about what is truly healthy with parents and community members have resulted in an amazing exchange of learning opportunities for all of us.

Through those exchanges, I’ve come to find out just what everyone is up against in the fight to protect our kids from unhealthy changes in food growth and production, and I have also been better able to guide them in reviving their lunch programs as a result.

I was hired as a Culinary Consultant to a Muslim school in the suburbs of Chicago with the purpose of providing recipes and instruction to kitchen staff on how to revitalize their lunch menu by using healthier ingredients, as many organic ingredients as possible and, of course assuring all of these were halal. Another part of the program was to re-evaluate cooking methods to ensure we were offering the healthiest possible presentation of dishes to this school of nearly 300 students.

What was most interesting about the entire process was that at the outset, this school was already doing as much as it could to provide healthy and homemade lunches, but they just wanted to implement more diversity in the lunch menu to expand in tasty options.  Their budget, like most schools, was tight. We had to get creative but remain frugal in our spending without sacrificing one inch on flavor, presentation, and the logistics that worked for their school.

The benefit in instituting the program went beyond what any of us expected. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved to get updated on information surrounding school foods such as artificial colors, monosodium glutamate, high fructose corn syrup, pesticide use on fruits and vegetables, genetically-modified foods, etc. that are often found in products marketed specifically to children.

What are the benefits of reviving your school’s lunch program and how can it actually be done? Below are a few key points I think are worthy to share:

It’s an Opportunity to Learn How Ingredients and Products Have Changed

The food industry is constantly changing the way food is grown and the ingredient make-up of packaged products.  For example, there may have been a time when butter or oil was used in making a particular cookie where now the company making them is using high-fructose corn syrup instead.  Alternatively, some companies are turning a new {green} leaf by offering more natural, organic, and even gluten-free options in their products that they didn’t have even a year ago. 

It Helps Schools Find Local Vendors- Ones Who Can Also Be Better for the Bottom Line 

Many people get the idea that the terms local, organic¸ or seasonal also mean ‘expensive’.  Alhamdullilah, due to an increase in consumer demand, many local farmers or small companies are able to offer prices comparable to grocery or wholesale food stores because transportation costs are so low when doing business with growers nearby. Schools can benefit greatly from this by partnering with local small farms for fresh, seasonal produce and also contacting local artisanal vendors for cheese, breads and more.  An additional benefit is that the school can talk directly with vendors about the ingredients in their products and even work to negotiate changes in things that might not work for a particular student population. 

It Gets Kids Excited About the New Foods They’ll Eat 

Any time a school is changing the lunch menu, it will need to communicate those upcoming changes to the teachers, students, and their families.  In fact, I recommend schools to create a mini marketing campaign to create buzz about the upcoming changes, even giving the new program a name that will excite everyone to participate. Cooking demos and tastings of new menu items are also a great way for everyone to feel they’re an integral part of the process by allowing their feedback to shape the new menu. 

It Starts a Dialogue and Revives a Community Spirit

Food is a great way to bring people together- even just talking about it. When concerns about the health and safety of children are brought up during a conversation, other parents are bound to feel a common interest in the subject. Talking about an entirely new lunch menu at a school-wide event is a great way to bond as a school community; agreeing that if anything is important, it is in doing everything and anything we can to ensure the kids aren’t exposed to harmful ingredients in food served at lunch or at home.

If you’d like help revitalizing your school’s lunch program, make the intention to do so and check out resources that will help you get there. Nothing good ever comes easy, but a step in the right direction is one less step the children will have to deal with later, insha’allah.

Yvonne Maffei is a Culinary Consultant to schools and businesses and can help develop recipes and train kitchen staff how to implement healthy, tasty and, of course, halal dishes at your organization. She can be found at www.myhalalkitchen.com or by email: contact@myhalalkitchen.com.

Tools for Schools 

Better School Food (www.betterschoolfood.com)

Fed Up With Lunch (www.fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/2010/02/time.html)

Let’s Move (www.letsmove.gov)

My Halal Kitchen (www.myhalalkitchen.com)

The Edible Schoolyard Project (www.edibleschoolyard.org)

The Lunch Box (www.thelunchbox.org)

Organic School Project (www.organicschoolproject.org)

Slow Food, USA (www.slowfoodusa.org)

Two Angry Moms (www.angrymoms.org)

Veggie U (www.veggieu.org)

Yvonne Maffei
Food Writer | Recipe Developer | Culinary Consultant
Editor, My Halal Kitchen
P.O. Box 144 | Des Plaines, IL 60016 773.392.6798
www.myhalalkitchen.com
www.facebook.com/myhalalkitchen
www.twitter.com/myhalalkitchen

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