Maryam Maan

The Halal Food Debacle I distinctly remember the moment. I had just picked up a Haribo jelly pack at the checkout counter when my cousin exclaimed, ‘Don’t you know that’s haram?!’ I was on vacation with my family in the UK, and coming from an Islamic country like Pakistan, we were never worried about having to check product labels for halal certification. On that day, I pondered upon the fact that many imported and artificial ingredients are used in grocery items made in Pakistan - making it fairly easy for brands to use non-halal ingredients. However, when I did my research, I found out that many brands had also been blamed for using non-halal ingredients even though that was not the case. There are ingredients that can be sourced from both halal and non-halal means, which is primarily what causes confusion between consumers. Fortunately, for this very purpose, there are a number of organisations built specifically to test products and certify whether they are halal or not. The following is a list of some of the most credible organisations which you can check before consuming a food item in Pakistan or even globally: South African National Halal Authority (SANHA) Center for Halal Assurance (CEHA) Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA) Halal Research Council (HRC) If at least one of these organisations lists a product as halal, you can rest assured that it is safe to consume. However, the use of social media has allowed many consumers and unreliable organisations to spread false allegations against brands for using non-halal ingredients in their food items. Thus, I have curated the following list of brands that manufacture food items that are safe to consume: Lays Lays is one of the leading brands in the market, known for its tasty potato chips. It uses a flavour enhancer called E-631, among other ingredients, which can be sourced from either fish oil, chicken or non-halal meat sources. Many online sources assumed that Lays potato chips were not halal because of the use of E-631. Fortunately for customers, SANHA declared that Lays extracts its E-631 from Topacio starch, which is plant-based. Thus, all flavours of Lays Chips were certified halal. Mezban Mezban is another brand that sells delicious cupcakes and other sweet snacks. It offers a wide variety of flavours, including Ras Malai cupcakes which are consumer favourites due to the flavour and love for the traditional RasMalai dessert. The brand also offers a mango flavoured cupcake, a fruit that Pakistan is known for. Similar to Lays potato chips, Mezban’s cupcakes and other products have also been certified halal by SANHA, so they are completely safe to consume. Bottomline What my past experiences and research have taught me is that in today’s world, you cannot rely on anybody for information. As a Muslim, it is our duty to have the know-how of what we are consuming. Thus, we need to conduct our own research and only check credible websites. If that is not possible, you can always check the label of a food item to see which ingredients it contains.