Halal is an Arabic word which means ‘permitted’ or ‘lawful’. It is any object or an action which is lawfully allowed to use or engage in according to the Islamic law. This term is used by the Muslims. Along with the food and drink the term covers all the matters of the life. This standard specifies how food should be prepared what foods are allowed. There are some exemptions also. Pork is one of the non Halal foods which cannot be eaten by the Muslims due to historical, cultural and hygienic concerns. The basis of non pork food is based on their source, cause of death of animal. Muslims assure that the food consumed by them is clean and hygienic. Halal promotes cleanliness in all the direction of people’s life. This standard refers to the assurance of quality of products which are used in the food.
As per the various Quran verses, following foods are not considered as Halal for Muslims:
- Pork
- Blood
- Animals killed incorrectly or without Allah’s name being pronounced before the slaughter
- carrion
- Animal that has been beaten or killed by a fall, savaged by a beast of a prey.
- Intoxicants and alcoholic beverages
Requirements for the Halal:
- Product packaging materials and storage conditions for the Islamic criteria and comply with the requirements of humanitarian
- Good manufacturing practice (GMP), good hygiene practices (GHP) and HACCP requirements should ensure that.
- Starting from raw material to finished product to the stage of substance all the processes, products and ingredients in the composition of both the origin of all substances, the need and ways to ensure the format, as well as a source of supply in terms of human requirements and comply with Islamic criteria,
- Fitted at the production stage all the rules (cleaning and hygiene, Islamic, humanitarian, healthy eating) Halal certificate allows the recognition the entire world.
Benefits of Halal:
- Improvement in the quality of food.
- Fulfillment of customer needs and improving reputation.
- Enhance marketability of products in Muslim countries.
- Imposes strict personal sanitation requirements including GMP and HACCP.