The government's effort put in place the general guidelines or standards in the production, preparation, packaging, labeling and handling of halal foods is expected to benefit Filipino consumers, particularly the country's over 10 mil-lion Muslim population, DTI-9 Regional Director Nazrullah Manzur saud yesterday morning during the halal consultation conducted at the Garden country's food manufacturers, traders and exporters to access the huge world trade for halal food products estimated at over $200 billion annually today.
The absence of a standards on halal food put the Muslim consumers in the country at a great disadvantage as it restricts their choices of food for their dietary requirement
The Qur'an provides certain guidelines for the Muslim believers to strictly adhere to products, especially food products that are produced and prepared following the tenets of the Muslim sacred scriptures. Muslims are to use and consume only halal food - that which is permissible and lawful, and avoid anything that is considered haram (forbidden) and najis (unclean)
The Filipino Muslim population of over 10 million, comprising roughly 13% of the Philippine population is many times bigger than the Muslim population of Thailand, of Singapore, Canada, Australia and the USA. Yet these countries have long put in place a halal standards that is accepted by Muslims worldwide. Consequently, Muslim consumers of these countries have a wider choice of food and service establishments to avail themselves of. This also allowed their food processors and exporters to create new niches, diversify and expand their market base.
Food products produced, prepared and handled following halal standards are assured to be of the highest quality, thus benefiting not only the Muslims but also the non-Muslim consumers as well. In his closing statement, Dir. Manzur posed the challenge to the participating Ulamas, Aleems, Shariah experts as well as officials and technical personnel of concerned government agencies to work doubly hard to finally come up with the country's general halal guidelines as their legacy to the next generation of Muslim Filipinos. (Lowell S. Vallecer, DTI-9)
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