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september-october. 2019 | @Halal
Industry talk
By Azmi Abd Aziz
Technical Assoc Director, Global Haltech
H
By Azmi Abd Aziz
alal industry has received
special attention worldwide
as one with the highest
potential to be explored and
developed. Demand from
approximately 1.6 billion
Muslims throughout the world has become
a crucial door-opener for Halal industry.
Halal in all things
The rapid growth of the halal market is not
confined to meat. It covers all sides of the
food business, including halal packaged
food. According to the Malaysia Food Act 1983,
‘packaged food’ refers to ‘which food is wholly
or partly cased, covered, enclosed, contained,
placed or otherwise packaged in any way
whatsoever and includes any basket, pail, tray
or receptacle of any kind whether opened or
closed’. Halal awareness and product ingredi-
ents have significantly influenced Muslim’s
intention to buy halal packaged foods that
are produced by non-Muslim manufactur-
ers. With regards to consumption, most of
Muslims definitely require assurance the food
they consume is truly halal.
Most of us know that even in Malaysia, the
purchase of halal products is well assured on
its food quality and safety (even for products
made from non-Muslims), following the
standards including MS 1500:2009 Halal
Food – Production, Preparation, Handling and
Storage – General Guidelines and MS 1514:2012
- Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Therefore, there is assurance among
Muslims to buy packaged food products even
when the manufacturers are non-Muslims
because of the strict standards of production,
right? Unfortunately, what is expected is not
the same.
Standard
equals
halal and quality
How manufacturing of halal products can be assured
through GMP and standards
Doubt still lingers
The scenario has turned the other way around
whereby many Muslim consumers still refuse
to buy non-Muslim halal certified packaged
food. In terms of trust and confidence, it
is quite difficult to come out with a single
definition to these terms.
Halal Malaysia from a logo point of view is
very important in determining consumer’s
awareness and recognition. However, the
issue only focuses on the surface level.
Manufacturers should constantly audit
and ensure halal standard compliance for
their survival in the market. Changes in the
market including changes in consumers
preference, for instance, is often beyond any
organisation’s control (Kotler & Pfoertsch,
2006). Regular audit is necessary to spot the
changes in consumer’s perception in order
for imperative action to be taken before it’s
too late.
How halal is defined
In Islamic thought, Halal food must not con-
tain any parts of an animal that is not halal
to be eaten or used by Muslims. Stemming
from that belief, adequate knowledge towards
product ingredients describes how people
react in their purchasing behaviour.
For example, there is a certain barrier
among Muslims to be totally assured of a
product because of the fact that different
manufacturers may use different names
in describing chemical and non-chemical
additives in their product - it doesn’t help
that they are difficult to understand (Davies
& Wright, 1994). Thus, those unfamiliar ingre-
dients tend to be perceived as suspicious in
terms of its halal-ness.
This is why I believe that we should
base our assurance in halal through the
standards adhered to by the manufacturers
for their products. As for manufactureres, it
is important for them to adhere to proper
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), which
is strongly associated with the receiving,
handling, processing equipment, produc-
tion, processing aids, packaging, storage,
transportation and distribution. GMP is an
(Top) HALAL
MANUFACTURING:
Adherence to strict
standards and guidelines
results in better quality
products, and more so for
halal products.
important standard that is fully integrated
with Halal Assurance System to sustain halal
and maintain quality.
Characteristics of Halal Core
Halal food are associated with the
trust and confidence in knowledge
and information on how the product
is being manufactured continuously
and maintain halal and follow GMP
standards (Morrow, Hansen &
Pearson, 2004). Manufacturers
should consider how to increase
the awareness and trust in Muslim
consumers to buy halal products
that are produced by non-Muslim
manufacturers.
Product ingredients is very
important for consumers’ purchase
intentions towards food. It is highly
associated with individual and
environmental factors such as
marketing information, situation
and food specific properties which
include product ingredients (Golnaz,
Zainal, & Mad-Nasir, 2012). This is
because the roles of information,
knowledge and Shariah are very
important for Muslims in making
their food choices.
From an Islamic perspective,
product ingredients covers several
issues that need to be taken into
consideration. It includes issues
of the consumer’s familiarity on
the ingredients and quality as well
as safety of the food contents.
That is why knowledge of product
ingredients is important since it
can become the core aspect of a
product being accepted or rejected
during the buying decision process.
Most consumers are very serious in
knowing what they are consuming,
and this information is commonly
gathered through food labelling
(Wandel, 1997).