The HEALTH : October 2019 | Page 47

OCTOBER, 2019 | The HEALTH Plus 15 p15 Halal food is healthy food Importance of being halal and clean is highlighted by F&B tycoon RECENT study shows that consuming palm oil in moderation does not contribute to the elevation of cholesterol in our blood. However, the repeated usage of cooking oil, and improper oil management could provide plenty of risk to our well-being. Reusing cooking oil for instance, increases the risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and irritable throat. This is caused by the food debris in the oil that has gone rancid, causing high acidity to the cooked ingredients. Compromising the halal-ness I Love Yoo! has a number of Yoo Tiao and porridge variations in their menu. Ruslin, also known as Pak Tam works hard in creating his halal food empire. Furthermore, reused cooking oil is seen as iff y in the halal context. While it poses risk to the consumers’ health, the uncertainty of the previous usage may not diminish the halal status in the preparation as it may have been mixed with non-halal ingredients during previous usage. According to the founder of local gargantuan business franchise Tuuu… Dia Pak Tam, Haji Ruslin Ibrahim, the practice is unsafe and should never be taken lightly. “In the context of halal preparation, there are many things that comes to focus. This includes the purity of our raw materials that we use in our food preparation,” Ruslin explains. Halal means healthy holders,” says Zaki with humility. The founder says that he is proud of what they have achieved so far. He hopes that the brand can continue to expand in the next fi ve years. “For now, we have a total of 70 outlets located all around Malaysia and we are confi dent that the brand will continue to grow continuously and rapidly in the next fi ve years – the Halal Certifi cation would really be helpful to our growth,” he says in a chuckle. “In addition, we have received positive feedbacks from other ASEAN countries and they have expressed their interest in bringing the brand into their home country. We currently have outlets in Singapore and Brunei as well,” Lim continues. “Right now, we are negotiating with interested parties in Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. The brand really have grown bigger than when I founded the brand more than 10 years ago. We hope that I Love Yoo! will become a well-known Malaysian brand in the eyes of the world in the future. We hope that the readers will come and say hi to our outlets and if you’re looking to be a part of our family, feel free to contact us and we can talk shop,” says the founder with a smile. — The Health Plus “Never will I ever allow my staff to reuse cooking oil. In addition to health risks, we can never be sure of the fi rst usage of the oil. It could come from cooking pork or such, compromising the halal procedure that we value highly here,” says Ruslin. “We are not only focusing on the halal part, we also care about the toyyiban part of it. Toyyiban describes clean and safe food production practice,” he continues. Ruslin struggled his way to the top from working odd jobs to creating a business empire specialised in food prep arations. Branding itself as the ‘Number One Malay Restaurant’ with 12 branches, Tuuu… Dia Pak Tam is known for other sub-products such as teh halia, instant black coff ee, white coff ee, bakery and noodle shops located all over Malaysia. The founder envisions his name to penetrate the global halal market in the next 5 years, subsequently placing another local brand that he can be proud of. — The Health Plus Savory: Some of Tuuu… Dia Pak Tam’s signature dishes. “Never will I ever allow my staff s to reuse cooking oil. In addition to health risks, we can never be sure of the fi rst usage of the oil. It could come from cooking pork or such, compromising the halal procedure that we value highly here.” — Ruslin Ibrahim