What is Halal certification and what does it cost the
consumer.
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Another list here, also covers items that contain Halal
certified produce, in fact the more I dig, the larger this list becomes https://www.halalchoices.com.au/product_lists_halal_ingredients.html
Unlike the older and more complex Kashrut (Jewish dietary
laws) designed to serve the small observant Jewish community, Halal
certification schemes are widely imposed on non-Muslims.
Certification schemes
began in the 1980s and are funded by consumers through a multi-level system of
one off and recurring fees, paid by suppliers to Islamic organisations.
It can easily be described as a hidden Islamic tax on goods
and services in Australia, and it continues to grow beyond its original
intention, only going to prove this statement.
The extent of this Islamic 'tax' becomes clear when we
understand who contributes to these schemes:
·
All four major dairy companies
·
Over 75% of poultry suppliers
·
Over 60% of abattoirs processing sheep
·
More than 50% of abattoirs processing cattle
·
Most General producers like Simplot, Unilever,
Nestle, Kraft, the list is long indeed.
The global market for halal-certified products and services
is estimated to be worth more than USD2.3 trillion, expanding by 20% per year.
These schemes are not limited to food alone, with products and services ranging
from halal certified cosmetics to water, trucks, warehousing and sharia finance
there is no limit to the schemes. Plans are in place to certify every step of
the market from suppliers of animal feed, to food processing and eventually the
transport to your supermarket and even shopping bags, affecting us in the same
way an increase in GST would for instance.
One of the issues that arose whole collating this
information is that many companies are facing intimidation to become certified,
and not one of those that relayed this message were willing to have that fact
made public, in fact several websites and writers are presently being sued for
defamation, for even writing on the issue of Halal in Australia, so it has
become a very powerful movement.
Companies who believe non-Muslims do not care, pass on the
extra cost to consumers. Few products are labelled as certified halal, when in
fact most meat and dairy produce bought in supermarkets, or when eating out,
are now halal certified for a fee.
I can find no other religious groups or lobby groups
imposing such a broad, tax-like scheme on the supply chain anywhere else in the
world.
Halal in its strict sense ought only involve meat. Much of
the non-meat food supply is intrinsically halal, and thus does not require
certification, including milk, honey, fish, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts
and grains. Yet many producers and suppliers of such products are still paying
for halal certification through lobby group pressure and export control.
White milk does not need to be certified. They don’t mark
their labels and now many companies are removing the certificates from their
website because of negative feedback, further undermining free choice ”Purina
Fancy Feast cat food is now on the list of halal-certified foods which makes no
sense to me at all, having never met a religious animal.
We even find Easter eggs with Halal certification, yet those
following the Muslim religion, do not celebrate Easter, begging the question
“Why are Easter eggs Halal”
For a product to be
Halal, it must be as a whole, and in part:
- ·
Free from any substance taken or extracted from
a Haram animal or ingredient (e.g. pigs, dogs, carnivorous animals, animals not
slaughtered in compliance with Islamic rites);
- ·
Made, processed, manufactured and/or stored by
using utensils, equipment and/or machinery that has been cleaned according to
Islamic law (e.g. not cleaned with alcohol); and
- ·
Free from contact with, or being close to, a
Haram substance during preparation, manufacture, processing and storage (e.g.
blood, alcohol, poisonous and intoxicating plants and insects such as worms and
cockroaches).
-
Animal welfare and
Halal
Australia was quick to amend its animal welfare laws to
entertain Halal slaughter methods, under a proviso that all animals are stunned
before slaughter, this point was agreed to by the Muslim community initially,
but as Muslim slaughter men were the only ones allowed to conduct halal
slaughter, things started to change.
Stunning started to be ignored, and when the government
officials questioned this, the Muslim lobbyists fought back, resulting in exemptions
being granted in secret by our own government
All around Australia today and in growing numbers are abattoirs
that are permitted to slaughter in the Halal method with-out stunning, letting
the animal bleed to death slowly, in total ignorance of all animal welfare
legislation and protections.
When our government pander to such requests by allowing
exemptions to minority groups that undermine national law, it becomes obvious
that open public debate has become necessary.
When one tries to follow the money, all links are down,
hidden or deceptive, painting a picture of secrecy, one of the people at the
top of the Halal certification chain in Australia that appears to know what is
going on is, Mr Mohamed El-Mouhley, when
interviewed by Today Tonight, his replies were arrogant to say the least;
“If you don’t want to eat halal:
Live on Pork and wine, because even water is halal”
Going on to say;
“You are eating halal day and
night, When you go to Woolworths you’re eating halal. When you go to Coles you
are eating halal. When you go to Franklins you are eating halal”
The dismissive attitude of Mr El-Mouhley to the rights of
Australian consumers, is typical of worldwide lobbying trends used by Muslim leaders as they expand across the globe, which undermines our democratic process, something already openly shunned by most practicing Muslims.
The point that makes a Mockery of all this, is the very fact
that the Koran (The Book) does not dictate any of this, where a simple prayer
before eating/cooking is allowed.
There are lots of things I prefer in life, like all
Australians there are many things we would prefer, changes we would like to
see, the only reason we don’t get what
we want, is because we have no voice, our representatives can’t hear us.
It is this issue that divides us, not a minority's religious beliefs, and one that makes clear, putting a side our national identity from the immigration debate, is a failure.
The Halal issue has come about for several reasons, firstly the Muslims have learned to lobby
well, even playing the race card, where this is religious issue, not a
race based one.
The more they lobby, the
larger their income becomes, and our government only fear well-funded lobby
groups and their corporate sponsors, rather than the people, simply because they
have become accustomed to controlling electoral results though structural biases,
rather than needing to inspire the electorate through genuine representation.
I have no objection to religious observance, the freedom of
religion protected by our constitution, but that is not what we are seeing
here, this is all about giving an inch and taking a mile, rather than equity of
any form, Australians ought not be forced to financially support a minority,
nor should they forgo their own rights of free choice simply because their
representatives are ignorant.
Any minority group will do their best to provide for their
communities, but I suspect this issue is bigger than that, as Muslim
immigration has so many more facets that this one issue, but in every respect,
it all goes back to democracy, where the majority ought to rule, not the best
funded or the loudest.
Yes I kept it short and sweet, if you need more info, Google
away, I left out photos, because they all offended me.
Mark Aldridge