Halal and Haram Issues in Food and Beverages Essay

Halal and Haram Issues in Food and Beverages In food industry, modern science and technology lead to creation of variety foods and beverages. The evolution comes together with booming of additives and ingredients to match with demands and perfections in food production. Different types of beverages as well as variety of foods offered in the market often confuse the consumers especially Muslims and most of them are unaware of what they have consumed. Generally Halal means clean and healthy food which has also being proven scientifically. In Islam, the consumption of Halal food and beverage and using Halal consumer products are obligatory in serving Allah, the Creator and the Almighty. Therefore, Muslims communities are very mindful of food ingredients, handling process and packaging of food products. The foods and beverages are only Halal if the raw materials and ingredients used are Halal and it is fully compatible to the Islamic guidelines. Nowadays, â€Å"Halal† oriented foods and beverages get food industry attention in all over the country as is expected to become a significant contributor to economic growth. It must be understood that the production of Halal food and beverage are not only beneficial to Muslims, but also to food producers, by means of increased market acceptance of their products. In food production, sugars are widely used as it could make the food and beverage taste sweet and delicious. There are many types of sugars such as glucose, fructose, lactose and maltose. A problem occurs as those sugars might transform to an alcohol named ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) by natural fermentation process which is not performed by enzymes. According to scientific review, both natural and manufactured products contain small amount of alcohol; for example, fruits, juices, vegetables, breads, cheeses, beef, and honey. Those food and beverage usually contain not more than 0. 5% of alcohol. Therefore, anything containing sugar is fermentable into alcohol. Other manufactured products such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Mirinda contain alcohol at percentage range of 0. 2% – 0. 3% as Beta Carotene (the colouring used) is melted by using the alcohol method. In addition, according to Eastern Standard Time on July 8, 1999 (4:00 pm); â€Å"The oils that they use to make Pepsi have minute trace of alcohol which combined make up a percentage of alcohol. † The problem of alcohol that might contain in food or beverage has been debated by Mujamma’ Al-Fiqhi Al-Islami as certain types of alcohol are beneficial in food production. According to the Islam guidelines, Muslims are allow consuming ethanol as it is not harmful but only can be taken at small amount which is not more than the specified percentage.