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What laboratory tests are conducted on food products to be certified Halal?

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shanvtk1

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 06:25 AM

Dear Members,

 

Good morning.

 

May anybody can share the laboratory tests conducted on a food product to be certified as "HALAL".

 

Kindly share any reference document / test list covering this category.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Shan.



pHruit

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 10:04 AM

What is the product/scenario?

I've not come across use of analysis as an exclusive verification method for confirming Halal status in isolation, but for example it could be used to check one particular aspect of potential concern (e.g. ethanol level).

The specifics will very much depend on the exact situation though.



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shanvtk1

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 10:13 AM

What is the product/scenario?

I've not come across use of analysis as an exclusive verification method for confirming Halal status in isolation, but for example it could be used to check one particular aspect of potential concern (e.g. ethanol level).

The specifics will very much depend on the exact situation though.

Thanks for the reply.... Can you please suggest some criteria for meat products.



pHruit

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 10:43 AM

Thanks for the reply.... Can you please suggest some criteria for meat products.

 

Meat isn't really my area of expertise, but I'm really not sure how analytical verification could be applied here?
My understanding is that the Halal status of a meat product primarily relates to the method of slaughter, which admittedly may leave some detectable evidence via physical examination of the whole carcass, but I can't readily see how one would be able to determine this from analysis of any of the subsequent cuts/products made from it. Equally I believe that the blessing during slaughter is the other key element, but that most surely will be beyond analytical detection!

 

Perhaps it's easier to approach this from another direction - what is it that you need to actually achieve via the testing? Suitability for halal certification would normally be determined by an external certification body, and whilst the exact process for this will depend on the products and processes, I believe it would be fairly unusual to rely solely on an analytical approach. If you've not yet got a certification body then I'd start looking at that, before getting too involved in testing that may or may not actually help with this.
 



olenazh

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 12:34 PM

We have some of our dairy products Halal certified, so I'm experienced in that. To get Halal certification, we provided a proof that all ingredients of the products intended to be Halal are Halal certified or Halal suitable. The rest of certification audit was checking our GMP, GFSI, etc. Also, they requested that our training should have brief explanation of Halal matter. That's pretty much all. We have re-certification audits twice a year, and they don't take long. Honestly - as soon as you pay your Halal CB (and it's quite expensive) and have all necessary doc's on file, it's quite easy to maintain.



TimG

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 02:49 PM

Hey Shan. I've been involved in maintaining Halal certification of several different products across 3 different facilities. I have never once had to have lab tests performed on the product to maintain Halal or Kosher certifications. Standards for certification are created by the certification bodies themselves, so you might want to reach out to one of the certification bodies for more info. Currently for Halal we use IFANCA, they seem fairly professional and can probably answer your questions.  http://ifanca.org/Pages/index.aspx



Sarah_E_W

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 10:17 PM

To obtain the accreditation you must be ae to provide all raw material documents to ensure they are all halal approved or suitable, they will also take look at hand sanitisers and looks at your cleaning methodology. Testing doesn't really happen, in saying that I've not dealt with meat for a few years. In the middle of horse gate and sometime after speciation testing was carried out to prove derivatives of the pig weren't present but I dont think that happens anymore. You need to ensure you have full traceability of the meat used to slaughterhouse as youl get a certificate as evidence the meat is halal and usually the logo on the label too.



HCFtech

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Posted 22 July 2020 - 07:20 AM

There are no tests for meat for Halal accreditation it is all done by observation and traceability audits. DNA testing to prove the absence of Pork can be done but no real requirement if you are working in a single species (chicken) or dual species (Lamb and Beef) plant, however if you are in a cutting plant/butchery scenario handling multiple species then you are as well adopting an "allergen" style approach whereby segregation is done by time, cleaning and testing.



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Posted 14 August 2020 - 03:02 PM

We are Halal certified facility, although no meat in the plant.  We insure that all ingredients and materials are Halal certified to maintain certification. Never had any request for lab testing.



Mariam Y.

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Posted 14 August 2020 - 04:25 PM

We are Halal certified (Chicken products) and there is nothing related to lab testing.

The requirements are for the slaughter process itself and the timing of the bleeding.

Although I have read somewhere that some CB require the animals to be fed food from Non-animal sources, but I haven't seen it in implementation.



LesleySR

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Posted 28 September 2020 - 12:41 PM

Hi Shanvtk1

 

 

 

This is a requirement of SOME US based certification bodies & they also mandate which laboratories you use for this testing (the most expensive)

 

Although I believe this testing requirement should be linked to product group (meat, dairy etc) often it is not & the certification body will demand extensive, expensive and unnecessary testing for the presence of alcohol or pork protein whatever product you produce

 

For example, If you're freeze drying fruit or making bread, neither of these tests are relevant!!....... and can add significantly to the cost of certification.

 

So, unless your customer demands certification by a specific Halal certification body I recommend that you switch to one of the more realistic (and knowledgeable) Halal certification bodies to avoid this unnecessary & expensive testing

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Members,

 

Good morning.

 

May anybody can share the laboratory tests conducted on a food product to be certified as "HALAL".

 

Kindly share any reference document / test list covering this category.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Shan.



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