SA food companies are increasingly opting for halaal certification in order to gain access to a valuable and growing market. There are 1.3bn Muslims worldwide, where the halaal food market is estimated at over US$150bn annually. With SA's 1.8m Muslims, that translates to a guesstimated spending of R1.6bn/year on halaal products, according to Nick SA food companies are increasingly opting for halaal certification in order to gain access to a valuable and growing market. There are 1.3bn Muslims worldwide, where the halaal food market is estimated at over US$150bn annually. With SA's 1.8m Muslims, that translates to a guesstimated spending of R1.6bn/year on halaal products, according to Nick Tselentis of the Consumer Goods Council of SA. Moulana Navlakhi, theological director of the SA National Halaal Authority, agrees with Tselentis's guesstimate.

But Abdul Wahab Wookay, CEO of the National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT), believes the amount could be considerably more as many spaza shops prefer halaal products for various reasons - for instance, because some members of other religious groupings, like the Zion Christian Church, hold similar convictions about meat.

An indication of halaal's increasing importance is that 10% of visitors to the recent combined food/retail show in Midrand (see page 6) said they were interested in halaal products. An estimated ten-fold increased in demand for halaal certification over the past decade is attributed to the fact that importing countries require halaal-certified products (for instance, most east, west and north African countries have Muslim majorities) and heightened awareness of it among consumers.

Halaal classification is a serious religious matter that used to, but now no longer, centres exclusively around meat and meat-related products. With new technologies and constant innovation in the food industry - especially regarding ingredients - halaal now covers all foods, from fruit juices and peanut butter to snacks and cereals.

For example:

• Proteolithic enzymes .(used in biscuits) which are derived from animals not only raise concerns about their origins (pork is forbidden), but also about how the cattle were slaughtered.
• Cochineal, a natural red colour which accumulates in the bodies of pregnant scale insects (Dactilopius coccus), is used in a variety of foods such as desserts, bakery toppings, pie fillings, biscuits, soft drinks and soups. Muslims may not eat insects; and again the question, "how was the animal killed?" arises.
• French fries are coated with an animal shortening (again, "how the animal was killed?"); the crumbing on a fish fillet is derived from animal stock; cheese may contain pork.
• Flavours which contain stearic acid from animal fats, civet tincture from the civet cat, cognac, rum, etc, also pose a problem.

Halaal food processing and preparation could also be affected. For example, the Muslim Judicial Council regularly inspects the packaging facilities of an exporter of rooibos tea and bottled water to Malaysia. "Although both are natural products, consumers still want to know whether they can trust the products 100%," says MJC director, Imam Yasin Harris.

Halaal has to do with religious criteria, health, mind, hygiene, traceability and a value system that has been practiced for centuries.

What is halaal?

The Arabic word halaal means "lawful/acceptable/permissible" and is that which is permitted for consumption under the Shari'ah (Islamic law). A halaal certificate issued by a bona fide certification body is an assurance that a particular product has been thoroughly investigated and found to conform to Islamic dietary laws, and is therefore suitable for consumption.

What is termed "doubtful" refers to food that is of dubious origin and not certified. This is governed by three important guidelines:

• Whether consumption of foodstuffs is prohibited.
• Whether foodstuffs are obtained through halaal or haraam (unlawful) means.
• Whether foodstuffs are harmful to health and mind.

Following these guidelines, ingredients that are not allowed in foodstuffs are:

• Alcohol.
• Animal gelatine (because of its doubtful origin); animal fats or rennet (similar reason); blood and pork.
• Any product or by-product - ingredient, processing aid, additive or colour - derived from any of these products.
• Where non-halaal ingredients (including packaging) might have contaminated a halaal item.
• Any halaal animal specie that has died of natural causes or was slaughtered without following ritual slaughter procedures.
• Carnivorous animals (crocodile meat, for example), insects or amphibians.

Meat

Non-halaal meat indicates that the animal or animals were not slaughtered ritually. A prayer must be invoked at the time of slaughter. Using a sharp knife, the windpipe, food tract and two jugular veins must be cut swiftly, taking care not to disjoin the animal's neck or sever the spinal cord. The blood must then be drained as completely as possible.

Slaughtering the animal from the back of the neck is prohibited and brutality and unnecessary suffering must be avoided.

Currently, 22 beef and lamb abattoirs and 15 poultry abattoirs in SA are halaal-certified. This translates into the daily halaal slaughter of more than 300,000 chickens, almost 7,000 cattle and just over 11,000 sheep (these figures exclude halaal meat for export).

The requirements for halaal meat products are:

• The abattoir must be halaal-certified. This can be arranged by the halaal certifying body appointing Muslim slaughtermen to conduct the ritual slaughter and a Muslim supervisor to oversee the entire process from stunning the animal right through to slaughter, processing, packing, halaal marking, storage and transport.
• Non-halaal meat is not allowed onto the same premises where halaal meat is stored or prepared.
• All preparation, processing and packaging equipment must always be clean of non-halaal products.

Certification

The NIHT says at least 40% of SA food products are halaal-certified. These include a wide range, from Nando's chicken to Kellogg's cereals, Woolworths' yoghurts and Ceres' fruit juices.

Although most processors interviewed praised the various bodies as extremely helpful in obtaining certification, many said the process is being complicated by the lack of a nationally-accepted interpretation of Islamic dietary law, while NIHT members are not always aware of new trends within the food industry.

"One body's interpretation might not be accepted by other bodies or all members of the Muslim community, resulting in companies having to be certified by a number of bodies," was one comment.

Tselentis agrees: "There is confusion. The differences between the various bodies do not help."

Navlakhi says the various bodies are aware of these objections, but they might revolve more around the practicalities of ensuring halaal requirements than serious interpretation differences. He advises companies to know their Muslim customers, especially regarding exports, as certain countries prefer certification by certain bodies.

They should investigate the different organisations to make sure certification meets their requirements.

For many companies, halaal certification has had positive outcomes.

Karan Beef's marketing director, Graham Simonsen, says halaal certification has led to increased business and forms a "substantial" part of its customer base.

Dr Les Pallent, divisional manager: food ingredients and exports of Nutritional Foods, agrees, but says that dealing with the origins of thousands of ingredients can become a long and involved process. Nutritional Foods was certified seven years ago, but changes in the industry prompted another audit this year which took three months. Pallent says helpful members of the certifying body made the process easier.

The procedure is:

• An application form must be filled out.
• A preliminary investigation - including raw materials - is done to identify problem areas.
• A site inspection is done.
• A halaal requirement programme is outlined.
• Once the applicant complies, a contract is signed between the two parties.
• Regular inspections are done.

The cost

This varies. Some certifying bodies may charge application, evaluation and administration fees as well as a monthly fee, whereas others may charge only a monthly fee plus travelling costs. Applicants are charged on a sliding scale depending on the type of business and the number of inspections required.