1990) NEWSTRAITSTIMES – Muslim consumers want procedure to define Halal products refined

04 Jun 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: Several Muslim consumers have urged the government to resolve the confusion in determining the halal status of food products following the announcement that two Cadbury milk chocolate products were free of porcine DNA that was reportedly found in them earlier.

They said the matter must be given due attention to avert uneasiness among Muslims in relation to food products.

An executive in the private sector, Nurdzuladlina Masehat, 27, called for standardisation in the tests on food products to avoid a situation where differing results were produced that only confused consumers.

“The Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) should also conduct more frequent surprise checks on manufacturers or entrepreneurs who have secured the halal certificate to ensure that the halal standards are always observed,” she told Bernama.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom today said a laboratory analysis by the Chemistry Department found that the two Cadbury milk products – Roast Almond and Hazelnut – did not contain porcine DNA.

The Health Ministry had earlier reportedly detected porcine DNA in two samples of the chocolate products.

Jamil Khir said the two products analysed were from the same batch confirmed earlier to contain porcine DNA, but this time the samples were taken directly from the manufacturer’s factory in Shah Alam.

For trader Siti Muzaimah Elias, 39, the latest statement about the Cadbury chocolates showed that the halal status in the country was being ridiculed.

“One minute, it (porcine DNA) is there; the next, it’s not. How is that? I now regard these chocolates as “syubhah” (halal status which is suspect); so my whole family will not eat them in the future,” she said.

Mini market owner Zaleha Kasim, 67, said the announcement by Jamil Khir had brought some relief but she added that Jakim needed to convince consumers that the manufacturers of those products really observed the halal standards.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said it was up to the consumers to make up their mind following the latest announcement.

“Although a decision has been made, it is up to the consumers. If there are still doubts, then don’t eat it,” he told Bernama.

— BERNAMA

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