Muslims await new standards on ‘clean’ food

In the absence of strict standards on halal or food that is clean to her religion, Muslim leader Ukhti Khasmin Ismael has decided to turn vegetarian so she can avoid eating haram or unclean food. In an interview with GMA News Online, Ismael said she has chosen to take this route to ensure that she only consumes halal food – or those that are permitted in Islam, such as most vegetables. “Mas safe pa," she said. Ismael, who chairs the Women of Islam Organization, explained that eating haram or unclean food will invalidate the prayers of a Muslim for 40 days. Muslims consider pork and its byproducts as haram. Certain food preparation practices, such as battering chicken in the slaughterhouse, renders food as haram, she added. The problem in the Philippines is that many food establishments do not offer halal food, a Muslim government official said. In some instances haram food is served with “deceiving" halal certifications, he said. Muslims may find hope in a set of standards proposed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) that will certify certain food as halal, Sani Macabalang, head of the department’s Halal Food Industry Development Committee, said Tuesday. Gaining from $2.3T halal market Macabalang said in a separate interview with GMA News Online that the upcoming guidelines will serve as a “stricter and more comprehensive" improvement on the halal standards published in 2008. He explained that Muslim experts are lending the DA a hand in preparing the standards, a guide in monitoring food in all stages of production to ensure the integrity of food as true halal. According to a statement by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Region XII — which Macabalang heads — Muslim scholars and religious leaders have endorsed the halal food standards that the DA has proposed. Stricter halal standards will redound to economic benefits, Macabalang added, as the country stands to gain from a global halal food market estimated at $2.3 trillion. Ismael also sees ordinary Muslims like her, who feel uneasy – spiritually and even physically – when they consume haram food, benefiting from such standards. “Pag nakain ko ‘yon, either magsusuka o sasakit ang tiyan ko (When I eat that, either I will throw up or my stomach will hurt)," she said. Macabalang said halal standards will also serve as proof, even for non-Muslims, that certified items are “healthy, pure, and wholesome." — VS, GMA News