Topic 9 : Halal certification Flashcards
Explain what these terms mean:
1. Halal
2. Haram
3. Masbooh
Halal = permissible / allowed
Haram = prohibited
Masbooh = doubtful
All foods are halal, except? [6]
ABCDIS
1. Animals that live on both land and water (e.g. frogs, crocodiles)
2. Blood / birds of prey with sharp claws (e.g. blood sausage)
3. Carnivorous animals (e.g. crocodile, cats)
4. Dead meat / carrion (decaying flesh)
5. Intoxicants (e.g. alcohol), foods offered to gods
6. Swine (pig / pork)
What are the three key components that must be Halal-compliant in the Halal Food Concept?
- Ingredients
- Equipment
- Operations (processing)
Halal concept : operations
In terms of processing premises and lines, what is considered to align with halal standards?
The premises (food processing plant) must be dedicated to processing halal food only.
- No separate lines (line A = halal, line B = halal), everything inside the facility must be halal
- Also cannot interchange operations (week 1 = only non-halal processing ;; then conduct a deep cleanse and then halal processing in week 2)
Is chicken halal?
Mushbooh.
- Chicken is only halal if it is slaughtered by muslims, and slaughtering should have stunning.
- It can be mushbooh if slaughtering method is uncertified or unknown.
Is seafood such as seabass halal?
Yes. Because seafood is caught from the ocean and left out until they die, technically no slaughter involved.
Is gummy containing pork gelatine halal?
No.
What are the 3 basic requirements in order to get a MUIS Halal Certification?
- Halal ingredients requirements
- Personnel Competency requirements
- Process and system requirements (quality management system)
1. Halal ingredient requirements
What are the 4 categories of halal ingredients risk catageoristion, and what is the definition for each risk group?
Struggle with medium-high and high risk definition
- Low-risk : primarily derived fromnon-animal sources and areunprocessed / minimally processed (e.g. vegetables, ice, synthethic chemicals, legumes)
- Medium-low risk : derived from non-animal soures that go through further processing without any animal-based additives. (e.g. olive oil, flour, soy bean products like tofu)
- Medium-high risk : Highly processed, may involve fermentation (may produce alcohol) or have animal-derived substances added (e.g. animal enzymes to make cheese, yeast, processed seafood)
- High risk : containing flavouring, geltaine / meat and its derivatives (e.g. soft drinks (contains flavourings), gelatine, poultry and poultry-based items)
What documentation is required for:
1. Low-risk
2. Medium-low risk
3. Medium-high risk [3]
4. High risk
products for halal certiciation?
- Low-risk : Nothing needed
- Medium-low risk : General questionnaire
- Medium-high risk : General questionnaire / Halal Certificate / Lab analysis (trace amounts of alcohol in products may still be permitted ; 0.5% alcohol in beverage, 0.1% alcohol in end product)
- High risk : Halal certificate
What type of document is requried to support the halal status of :
1. Chicken boneless leg
2. Turkey Ham
3. Egg
4. Chilli sauce
- Chicken boneless leg : Halal cert
- Turkey Ham : Halal cert (meat)
- Egg : None. Assuming that is fresh, raw eggs –> because usually the eggs come from a mother hen, which is not usually slaughtered bc use the same hen to produce many many eggs.
- but if its omelette etc : consider the ingredients going into it - Chilli sauce : Halal cert (medium-high risk). May contain flavourings and non-halal additives
In a Halal food establishment, it is important to ensure personnel is competent. What are the 2 kinds of personnel that must be present, and must they be muslim?
Halal Assurance Officer (HAO): Also plays a supervisory role in halal production. When there is non-compliance for Halal, this person is responsible. Must be muslim.
Halal Team Lead : like a supervisor, which oversees production and ensures compliance with Halal requirements. Doesn’t need to be a muslim
Traceability is an important aspect in ensuring products are halal. What information on the product label is necessary to ensure traceability? [6]
- Product name and desription
- Manufacturer / brand owner’s name
- Manufactuer / brand owner’s address
- Abattoir / plant number
- Halal slaughtering and packing date
6. Halal mark or equivalent
- Points 3-6 only applies to high risk items such as imported meat / poultry
What are the 10 Principles of Halal Quality Management system (HalMQ)?
- Establish the halal team
- Define the product / nature of business
- Construct a flow chart
- Identify halal threats and their control measures
- Determine Halal Assurance Points (HAP), allowable limits and prescribed practices (similar HACCP)
- Establish monitoring system
- Establish corrective actions and preventive actions (CAPA) for each HAP
- Establish documentation and record-keeping system
- Verify the halal system
- Review the halal system
Similar to HACCP
The Halal Quality Management system (HalMQ) is applicable to eating establishments Category I, such as school canteens and hawkers. True or False?
False
HalMQ Principle 1 : Establish halal team
Other than the QA department (e.g. halal assurance officer), what other departments are involved? [5]
- R&D, product development
- Supply chain
- Procurement (sourcing for supplier)
- Production
- Marketing (halal claims)
Note : marketing may not be included all the time
Principle 2 : define product / nature of business
What type of documentation must the Halal Team maintain under Principle 2 (define product/nature of business)?
An accurate list of:
- Raw materials and products / menu items
- Additives
- Processing aids (RAP)
- Including names of suppliers, maufacturers and certifying agencies
Principle 2 : define product / nature of business
What is the requirement for non-halal certified business operations?
Non-halal certified business operations : any other operations that are not included in halal certification, i.e. anything outside from receiving to raw material to processing and packaging
Such operations, such as transport and delivery, must be conducted at separate locations and use dedicated transportation vehicles to prevent cross-contamination.
Principle 4 : Identification of halal threats and control measures
One halal threat is storage and use of doubtful chicken. What control measures should be implemented?
- Check and verify halal cert upon every delivery
- Maintain updated list of approved suppliers
Principle 4 : Identification of halal threats and control measures
Halal threat : unauthorised use of MUIS Halal Certification Mark (MHCM) on a product not certified by MUIS. What are some control measures? [2]
- Implement strict document control procedures -> ensuring no staff can tamper with the halal logo
- Train staff on proper use of MHCM
Principle 4 : Identification of halal threats and control measures
Halal threat : storage and use of an unapproved ingredient. What are some control measures for this? [2]
- Maintain updated inventory of MUIS-approved ingredients (maybe that unapproved ingredient is actually approved but didn’t update database)
- Obtain MUIS approval before using new ingredients (under the change management protocol ;; manage changes)
Principle 4 : Identification of halal threats and control measures
Halal threat : transport of halal-certified cooked food with haram cooked food. What control measures can be taken? [2]
- Use dedicated vehicles for halal food transport
- Establish separate loading / unloading bays
Provide examples of potential halal threats in a hawker setting, and their control measures.
- Mixing of halal and non-halal utensils (control measure : colour code utensils with green colour)
- Raw ingredients may not be halal, e.g. non-halal chicken was used in a halal chicken rice stall (control measure : educate hawker stall owners)
Principle 4 : Determine HAP, control limits, prescribed practices
What are the allowable limits / prescribed practices for these Halal Assurance Points (HAPs)?
- Storage and use of doubtful chicken
- Storage and use of an unapproved ingredient
- Transport of halal-certified cooked food with haram cooked food
- Stunning parameters
- Levels of ethanol in final flavouring
- 0 tolerance
- 0 tolerance
- 0 tolerance
- Unconscious (stun chicken before slaughtering to minimise suffering to animals, ensure good meat quality, and for worker’s safety)
- Less than or equal to 0.5% (less than or equal to 0.1% in final product)
Provide examples of potential halal threats in a catering company set-up and relevant control measures. [2]
A catering company may cater to both halal and non-halal populations, so
1) Cross mixing of production lines and thus contamination of halal and non-halal food
- control measure : have physically separate kitchens and processing facilities for halal and non-halal food. If chef oversees both halal and non-halal operations, ensure that uniform is changed
2) Transportation of halal and non-halal food in the same vehicle
- control measure : have separate unloading and loading bays, and dedicated vehicles for transport
Principle 7 : Establish CAPA for each HAP
Pork gelatin was accidentally used in the production of gummy bears which are supposed to be halal. What will be the corrective actions and preventive actions? (list can be non-exhaustive)
Corrective action = immediate actions to solve issue at hand
Preventive action = actions taken to ensure issue does not arise again
Corrective actions :
- use batch tracing to trace which gummy batches contained pork gelatin
- Halt production and quarantine affected materials
- Conduct a root cause analysis (pareto chart) to identify how pork gelatin entered the Halal production line.
- Re-sanitise all equipment and surfaces
- Retrain staff
Preventive actions :
- Implement a stricter ingredient verification protocol
- Revise the raw material approval process — ensure that only Halal-certified suppliers are listed on the approved vendor list.
etcetc
Principle 6 : Establish monitoring system for each HAP
Propose a monitoring system for the halal status of ingredients. [2] (How to monitor, when to monitor, done by who)
Includes when buying ingredients at initial stages (procurement) ;; don’t go as far as delivery stage
1) Procurement of ingredient
- Check halal supporting document suitability based on risk categorisation matrix, ensure that supplier provides relevant documentation
- When : upon sourcing and purchase (supplier / ingredient qualification step)
- Who : procurement manager
2) Internal audit
- Track validity of supplier’s halal cert
- Check if procurement follows SOP closely
- Change management process : if there are any new ingredients to be approved as halal by MUIS
- When : once every quarter
- Who : Production manager
Principle 8: Establish Documentation & Record-Keeping System
What is the difference between records and documents? Give examples of records and documents to demonstrate / compliance to MUIS HCC.
Documents : a set of instructions that has been discussed and agreed upon. The document tells you what you need to do. (e.g. SSOP, Halal cert - an official certification with rules (halal company shall adhere to…..))
Records : the information / output of document. Serve as evidence that a procedure was done (e.g. raw material and product records, cleaning and sanitation procedures, training records…)
Halal cert is a DOCUMENT to show halal compliance, but does not tell how company implements it
Principle 9 : Verify the Halal system
How can the halal system be verified?
When company has not obtained certification vs obtained certification
- If company has not obtained certification yet : audit by MUIS
- If company already has certification : internal audit records which verify compliance with principles of HalMQ
What does a change control mechanism refer to in quality management system?
Any changes / modifications to the quality management system is done in a controlled, documented manner and will undergo review and approval processes.
Principle 9 : Verify the Halal system
How to ensure that the halal quality management system continously complies with MUSIC Halal Certificate Conditions (HCC) throughout the validity period?
The halal team shall conduct **random sampling of products and checks ** (internal audit)
Check the output of the quality management system
