By Azman Zakaria

Photo by Noor Azreen Awang

SERDANG, Nov 24- The halal food industry feels the need for an excellent and reliable traceability system to ensure that customers are persistently protected from involuntarily consuming non-halal food which is against the Muslim faith.

Deputy Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies), Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi Mustafa said, halal products inclusive of its ingredients, processing, handling, packaging, storage and distribution must strictly adhere to the halal rules and regulations as stipulated in the Shariah Law.

“The entire supply chain processes and activities must be certified as halal compliant. If a food product contains imported ingredients, then every single ingredient needs to be checked and verified in terms of its halal-ness,” he said in his inaugural lecture entitled “Halal Food Authenticity. Does it Matter to You?” at UPM, today.

The terminology to illustrate the process was ‘traceability,’ he said, adding that traceability could be used to trace the status of a particular food product at each stage of the supply chain as it encompasses all information pertaining to activities that the halal food products have gone through.

“By having a traceability system, critical Halal control points can be fully monitored, and if the product is suspected to be contaminated or adulterated with non-halal elements, a detailed information can be retrieved to identify the cross contamination point, and in accordance, corrective measures instituted,” he said.

He explained that a comprehensive and reliable traceability system in the halal food supply chain would therefore increase halal transparency and strengthen halal integrity. 

The world’s halal market is expected to grow at a 5.8 per cent annually until 2020 while the market for certified  halal goods is expected to grow at 26 per cent.

In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi further deliberated on the scientific approaches developed over the years towards the improving and refining of halal food authentication to facilitate the respective authorities to make a definite decision on the halal-ness of food and food products before the issuance of halal certificate.

Also present was Dean of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences Faculty, Prof. Dr. Arbakariya Ariff. - UPM

Date of Input: 30/11/2017 | Updated: 30/11/2017 | syifarida