Butter : JAKIM sticks by 'non halal' stand

PETALING JAYA: Regional Islamic authorities give the green light for “Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn” but the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) maintains that the product is non-halal.

Last week, Jakim confirmed that the Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn sold in Malaysia was non-halal as it contained porcine DNA. Jakim’s decision came after several months of uncertainty over the status of the product.

This announcement however contradicted religious authorities from Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei who approved the product.

Awas! jeli gula-gula getah.. kegemaran kanak-kanak

Awas! jeli gula-gula getah.. kegemaran kanak-kanak

Jakim Sahkan Mentega 'Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn' HARAM

KUALA LUMPUR: Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) pada Isnin mengesahkan mentega jenama 'Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn' yang dipasarkan di Malaysia adalah tidak halal.

Ketua Pengarahnya Othman Mustapha berkata keputusan itu dibuat selepas mendapati produk tersebut datang dari kilang yang sama dengan yang diedarkan di Sarawak walaupun pengimportnya berbeza dan untuk pasaran berbeza.

"Perkara ini disahkan sendiri oleh wakil syarikat Ballantyne Food dari New Zealand yang mengeluarkan produk itu. Sehubungan itu umat Islam seluruh negara diminta untuk tidak menggunakan produk tersebut," katanya dalam satu kenyataan di sini.

Sehubungan itu juga, Othman meminta pemegang dan permohonan baru Sijil Pengesahan Halal dari Jakim atau jabatan agama Islam negeri yang telah menggunakan produk tersebut agar menukarnya kepada yang mempunyai sijil halalyang diiktiraf serta mengemukakan resit pembelian bahan ramuan baru.

Beliau berkata mereka juga perlu melakukan proses samak dengan disaksikan jabatan agama Islam negeri serta mengemukakan bukti akuan samak.

Othman berkata perkara itu juga telah dimaklumkan kepada syarikat pengimport dan mereka bersetuju menarik balik produk terbabit dari pasaran.

Pada 19 Julai lepas Jabatan Agama Islam Sarawak mengisytiharkan produk itu yang digunakan segelintir pengusaha kek lapis sebagai tidak halal kerana dikesan mengandungi DNA (asid deoksiribonukleik) babi, menyebabkan industri makanan itu terjejas. - BERNAMA

Golden Churn canned butter recalled after halal debacle

KUCHING: The Golden Churn butter producer will voluntarily recall all its canned butter worth approximately RM5mil from the Malaysian market.

This is due to possible porcine contamination of the butter produced in New Zealand.

Golden Churn manufacturer Ballantyne Foods Pty Ltd regional general manager Hemmat Nasrallah said the decision was made during a meeting with the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Sarawak Religious Department (Jais) and Chemistry Department in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

E-halal system for all by next year

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysia Islamic Development Department JAKIM is targeting use of the e-Halal system by all states by next year, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim said today.

She said that only seven states would implement the system this year, led by Penang, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah, followed by Pahang, Sarawak and Johor at year-end.

Mashitah told reporters here that the e-system would facilitate collaboration between JAKIM and state religious departments and council to standardise procedures, certificates and logos.

She said that the e-Halal system that JAKINM introduced in 2007 enables applications to be made on line and for anyone to check on the halal status of products and premises.

www.mmail.com.my

Sijil Halal : JAKIM hanya guna ujian Jabatan Kimia

Kesemua sampel produk yang diambil oleh Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia Jakim dihantar ke Jabatan Kimia yang telah mendapat akreditasi bagi skop pengujian DNA untuk tujuan analisis Sehubungan itu Ketua Pengarah Jakim Osman Mustapha berkata dalam melaksanakan ujian bagi sesuatu produk oleh sesebuah makmal faktor seperti kaedah pengujian tahap pengesanan 

MCA Kecam cara JAKIM tangani isu halal

KUALA LUMPUR 3 Ogos — Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia Jakim tidak wajar bersikap kertelaluan dalam menangani isu berkaitan sijil halal sebaliknya harus menyediakan lebih banyak ruang untuk berkomunikasi khususnya membabitkan pengusaha bukan Islam kata MCA “Walaupun saya faham Jakim mahu mewujudkan standard antarabangsa mereka perlu membenarkan ruang untuk 

Sosej pulut & Chicken Cake ada unsur Babi

KANGAR: Sosej pulut dan kepingan ayam (chicken cake) yang dijual di beberapa bazar Ramadan di sini dan digemari ramai penduduk tempatan, disahkan mengandungi asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) babi.
Perkara itu disahkan Jabatan Kesihatan Perlis semalam selepas memperoleh keputusan analisis ke atas tujuh sampel awal yang dikumpulkan pihaknya di sekitar Sungai Bahru di sini dan daripada jumlah itu, dua disahkan mengandungi DNA babi.

Timbalan Pengarah (Bahagian Keselamatan dan Kualiti Makanan) jabatan itu, Mahamad Sukor Senapi ketika dihubungi berkata, dua produk yang dijual tanpa jenama itu mengandungi DNA babi.

ADUAN STARBUCK COFFEE : KENYATAAN MEDIA JAKIM

Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM)menafikan dakwaan pengguna laman Facebook dan Twitter tentang larangan meminum produk Starbucks Coffee kerana disahkan mengandungi unsur arak. 

Memetik kenyataan media dari JAKIM isu  aduan Starbuck Coffer seperti berikut : JAKIM

Simplysiti Jawab Isu Berus Dari Bulu Babi

Seperti yang diketahui, berita mengenai SimplySiti kini sedang tersebar luas tentang produk SimplySiti yang mempunyai berus yang tidak Halal. Untuk mengelakkan berita ini dari terus menjadi tanda tanya, Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza dan pihak pengurusan SimplySiti ingin memberikan informasi kepada semua melalui kenyataan seperti di bawah. Pihak SimplySiti harap ini dapat membantu untuk menjawab soalan yang kini sedang ditujukan mengenai kesahihan sijil Halal produk SimplySiti. Pihak SimplySiti juga sangat berharap pihak media dan wartawan yang tidak putus menyokong SimplySiti selama ini dapat turut membantu untuk berkongsi kenyataan beliau kepada semua.

Produk SimplySiti sentiasa mematuhi semua peraturan yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak JAKIM sebelum sebarang produk kami diberi sesuatu kelulusan Halal. Sebenarnya, produk-produk SimplySiti serta berus yang terdapat di dalamnya yang telah mendapat pengesahan Halal tidak terbabit dengan tuduhan yang dibangkitkan tersebut.

Pihak kami selama ini berkerjasama rapat dengan pihak JAKIM dalam setiap proses yang harus dipatuhi sebelum sesuatu produk itu dihasilkan dan dipasarkan untuk kegunaan orang awam. Sokongan dan bantuan yang kami terima daripada pihak JAKIM amat kami hargai dan kami banyak belajar daripada mereka kerana sebagai perniagaan yang berusaha untuk memberikan yang terbaik untuk semua, pihak JAKIM adalah rakan dan pihak yang sangat komited dan paling berwibawa dalam menghulurkan khidmat nasihat dan bantuan kepada pengusaha-pengusaha seperti kami terutama sekali dalam proses penghasilan dan pengesahan kualiti sesuatu produk secara amnya, dan untuk piawaian Halal secara khususnya.

Sebab itu proses penghasilan sesuatu produk yang ingin mendapat pengesahan Halal daripada Jakim perlu melalui proses pemeriksaan dan siasatan yang terperinci bukan hanya bagi setiap jenis bahan yang terbabit di dalam pembuatan produk, malahan premis, setiap prosesnya termasuk pengangkutan, simpanan, pengeluaran, para pekerja dan segala-galanya perlu mematuhi piawaian yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak JAKIM.

Merujuk kepada sebaran lampiran yang terdapat di dalam blog, berikut adalah kenyataan daripada SimplySiti. Pihak kami terpaksa membuat kenyataan akhbar lebih awal memandangkan terlalu banyak pihak yang telah menyebarkan spekulasi mengenai hal ini. Kenyataan ini dibuat bagi mengelakkan salah faham orang ramai dan melindungi imej produk kami yang dituduh menggunakan berus babi.

Apa yang berlaku di dalam konteks seperti yang tertera di di dalam blog tersebut adalah tidak benar. Bulu yang dilaporkan di dalam lampiran tersebut BUKANLAH bulu berus yang terdapat di dalam produk SimplySiti tetapi berus yang terlibat di dalam kerja pembersihan di kawasan kilang dan kerja-kerja menyamak dan penyucian menurut syarak telahpun dilakukan bagi memastikan tidak ada apa-apa langsung yang tidak suci terdapat di dalam premis kilang tersebut lagi sebelum proses pembuatan produk dilakukan di kilang tersebut.

Oleh itu, kami dengan ini menjamin bahawa produk-produk SimplySiti yang telahpun mendapat pengesahan Halal JAKIM adalah benar & berus yang terdapat di dalam produk-produk kosmetik yang kini terdapat di pasaran juga adalah mematuhi syarat piawaian Halal daripada JAKIM. Bukan itu sahaja, kami juga rasa terharu kerana kerjasama dan follow up dan kami terima daripada pihak JAKIM juga adalah pantas dan efisyen untuk kami mudah membuat apa-apa tindakan susulan dengan efektif.

Memang sudah cita-cita dan niat Siti adalah untuk memastikan produk SimplySiti adalah halal, suci dan berkualiti. Hanya yang terbaik untuk semua para pengguna maka Siti sanggup buat apa sahaja dan akan terus berusaha memperbaiki mana-mana kekurangan walaupun proses atau usaha itu mengambil masa dan kos yang lebih sedikit daripada proses yang biasa. Sekiranya sesuatu produk itu diragui kesuciannya, kami tidak akan menjual malahan akan menarik balik dari pasaran.

SimplySiti akan turut mendapatkan kenyataan daripada JAKIM supaya hal ini tidak lagi dipanjangkan sehingga meragukan pengguna SimplySiti. Kami harap pihak JAKIM akan dapat menerangkan status halal SimplySiti dalam kenyataan akhbar mereka nanti. Dan memandangkan isu ini timbul secara mengejut dan kebetulan jatuh pada hujung minggu, pihak SimplySiti akan turut berjumpa dengan pihak JAKIM secepat mungkin untuk berbincang tentang hal ini. Kami mohon agar orang ramai tidak membuat spekulasi awal kerana kami sangat prihatin dan sentiasa menitikberatkan kualiti dan kesucian di dalam produk kami.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin

Presiden

Shops that do not separate Golden Churn from halal products face whopping fine

KUCHING: Traders are being told to separate Golden Churn Creamery Butter from other halal dairy and cold storage products, and place them in the non-halal zone with immediate effect.

Failing to do so will see a whopping fine amounting to RM100,000 or three years of imprisonment under the Trade Description Act, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry state director Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman.

He said his enforcement officers would be carrying out checks on all supermarkets and shops statewide to ensure that this would be done accordingly.

“Golden Churn Creamery Butter needs to be placed with other non-halal products in supermarkets and shops and traders need to clearly inform consumers that the product is not halal. This is regardless of whether the butter comes from a different batch of stock and not from the ones tested to contain pig DNA.

“Since there are doubts on the halal status of the product, it’s best to generalise all are not halal even if some stock from a different batch was certified halal. This is to reduce confusion among consumers,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Ahmad said the Golden Churn Creamery Butter supplier had been instructed to make special stickers to cover the halal logo printed on the product’s packaging.

“We’re very glad that the supplier is very cooperative,” he said.

He added that there was no need to dispose of the product as it could still be sold to non-Muslim consumers.

Ahmad said since Thursday the department had formed four teams to carry out checks on Sarawak layered-cake or kek lapis manufacturers’ premises to ensure they were well informed of the butter’s status.

To date, they had visited six premises and more would be inspected in the coming days throughout the state, he said.

“All four kek lapis manufacturers and bakeries inspected on Thursday namely Mira Cake House, Dayang Salhah Enterprise, Afifi Kek Lapis Sarawak and Norjas Bakery showed that they never used Golden Churn Creamery Butter,” he said.

He said his men also carried out checks at Di Wannie Cake and Rabiah Amit Enterprise here yesterday.

“Di Wannie Cake which used the brand previously has carried out samak to purify its kitchen appliances and premise.

“Rabiah Amit also used the brand at her old factory in Jalan Astana which was burnt down about two years ago but not anymore at her new factory in Demak Laut,” he explained.Shops that do not separate Golden Churn from halal products face whopping fine

Business as usual for bakeries despite losses due to non-halal butter

KUCHING: The declaration that Golden Churn Creamery butter is non-halal has cost some bakeries here big losses but they are taking it in their stride.

Many bakeries are now busy finding alternatives and some bakers had seen the problem coming months ago when claims of porcine contamination in the Golden Churn product first surfaced in the peninsula.

Since April, Di Wannie Cake, which specialises in Sarawak layered-cakes or kek lapis, has been changing back and forth between ButterLite and Buttercup.

The company’s kek lapis used to be made from Golden Churn, because it was the best tasting butter in the market — a tub of 2kg Golden Churn butter cost RM71.

Biting the bullet: Di Wannie Cake CEO Zoraidah Leen and sales director Mahathir Bujang arranging layered-cakes as they get ready for business. Di Wannie Cake’s layered-cakes are no longer made from Golden Churn Creamery Butter product, which had been confirmed by Jais as non-halal. Zoraidah said she switched brands a few months ago. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / The Star

Can GM Foods Be 'Halal' or Kosher?

Back in December 2010, a conference held in Penang, Malaysia with biotechnology experts and halal proponents ended with the conclusion that genetically modified food was halal ( ‘permissible’ for Muslims) as long as the sources from which they originate from are halal. This decision – which was accompanied by a fatwa declaring GM halal – came as a shock to some in the wider Muslim community who consider GM a deviation from god’s creation.

The UK-based green Muslim organisation Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciencesinsisted the fatwa was controversial and “failed to consider biotechnology from an Islamic perspective, ignoring not only the harm that GM causes to the environment but the way it undermines the integrity of God’s creation.”

Genetically modified food is a plant or animal which has genetic material that has been changed using genetic engineering rather than sexual crossing. Genetic modification was developed back in the 1980s and commercial agricultural companies invested heavily in the science in the 1990s to grow crops mainly in developed nations such as Canada and the US.

It has since spread to rising developing nations such as Argentina, Brazil and India (although controversy in Europe means that their use there has been limited).

The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES) has remarked that GM companies are now targeting Muslim populations through their “profit-motivated” efforts to establish the Shariah-compliance of GM. They added that they are “manipulating Islamic scholars into issuing highly controversial fatwas in support of GM.”

Fazlun Khalid, founder of IFEES, explained in an editorial in the organisations newsletter that there were real fears about pest-resistant GM crops causing species loss and a decline in bird species. “There are complex scientific, ethical,and political issues to be explored ,” he said. “And it is a puzzle how an unrepresentative group of ulema [religious scholars], however learned in the Islamic Sciences, can determine in a two-day conference held in Penang, Malaysia last December, that GM foods are halal and can be consumer by Muslims.”

Green campaigners such as Greenpeace have challenged GM crops on the grounds that there is a lack of adequate scientific understanding of their impact on the environment and human health.

The GM industry has also been criticized due its efforts to portray GM as a solution to world hungerthrough genetically modifying crops with increased yield and nutrition, when in reality GM crops are expensive, require a lot of pesticide and water which may actually hinder the agriculture of developing nations.

However, even amongst green activists the debate over genetically modified food is not straightforward. During a lecture given by the vertical farming advocate Dickson Despommier, a question was raised about the possibility of using GM crops in the farms.

Despommier, who is a parasitologist at Columbia in New York City, insisted that there was nothing wrong with genetically modified food per se. The only problem he saw was that most GM crops were modified to resist higher and higher levels of herbicide and pesticide and not for greater yield or better nutrition.

So, what do you think? Is GM good or bad for us? Maybe you think that with some limits it can be useful or are you concerned that we are simply meddling in affairs we don’t fully understand? Also, can GM really be Halal or Kosher?

Golden Churn butter confirmed to contain pig DNA, says Daud

KUCHING: The halal certification logo on the Golden Churn Creamery Butter product will be withdrawn now that it has been confirmed to be non-halal.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman said the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry would be asked to enforce the withdrawal of the logo.

“The confusion over the matter is now resolved with the decision made by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in a meeting on Tuesday that the butter is not halal.

“The decision is applicable throughout the country and Muslims are not allowed to consume the butter,” he told reporters after a zakat presentation ceremony at Tabung Baitulmal Sarawak here yesterday.

He said the confusion arose in the past because the manufacturer was unhappy that random checks conducted in Johor and Sarawak had revealed that the butter contained pig DNA.

“Another test was carried out subsequently and the result turned out to be negative. So, Jakim came out with a statement that the particular sample did not contain the pig DNA and it was not a public statement.

Not halal: A man looking at a Golden Churn butter poster as he walks past a bakery in Satok yesterday. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / The Star

“However, we conducted another test in the state in June this year through the Chemistry Department and it was found that the sample analysed contained the pig DNA. We cannot pick and choose the samples and the decision is that overall, it is banned for the Muslims,” he said.

On concerns that some kek lapis (layered cake) manufacturers were using the product, Daud said it was the responsibility of Jakim to inform the public that it was not halal.

“However, not all manufacturers are using the product as many are using other brands too,” he said.Golden Churn butter confirmed to contain pig DNA, says Daud

www.thestar.com.my

Golden Churn Creamy Butter..akhirnya HARAM

Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) mengikut portal berita harian pada 3 Ogos 2011 telah mengesahkan bahawa Golden Churn Creamy Butter Ada DNA babi dan ianya haram  dimakan oleh umat Islam. Kes mentega Golden Churn ini timbul akibat penggunaan untuk pembuatan kek lapis di Sarawak. Mungkin persatuan pengeluar kek lapis di Sarawak telah menukar jenama mentega yang mereka gunakan selepas mendapat berita ini. Jadi untuk umat Islam yang suka makan kek lapis, sila tanya pengeluar terlebih dahulu apa mentega yang mereka gunakan. Produk mentega ini ialah keluaran daripada New Zealand. 

Presiden Persatuan Pengusaha Kek Lapis Sarawak (PPKLS), Rabiah Amit berkata kek lapis yang dibuat di negeri ini adalah halal. Beliau berkata ramai orang mempersoalkan sama ada kek lapis itu menggunakan produk ”Golden Churn Creamy Butter” selepas ia dilaporkan mengandungi DNA babi dan ini menyebabkan ramai telah memberhentikan tempahan buat sementara untuk memastikan status halalnya. 

“Kami ingin menjelaskan bahawa kek lapis yang dibuat di Sarawak adalah halal kerana kami tidak menggunakan produk itu lagi sejak setahun lalu,” katanya

Selain itu juga kita mestilah berhati-hati semasa membeli apa jua jenis kek di pasaran takut takut kita termakan benda daripada DNA babi ini. Jadilah pengguna orang Islam yang menitik beratkan tentang makanan kita. Kepada pengguna mentega di sana, banyak lagi pilihan mentega yang halal untuk di gunakan, semoga para pembuat kek menerima hati yang terbuka dengan keputusan ini.

Non-halal butter non-issue for ‘kek lapis’ makers

MIRI: Golden Churn Creamery butter which has been confirmed as not halal are a non-issue to ‘kek lapis’ producers here, meaning production will still go on to meet anticipated high demands for the coming Hari Raya celebration.

A producer, 24-year-old Mohd Hafiz Rohani, said his company had not used the product for processing their layer cakes.

“We have received enquiries from customers all over the nation whether we are using the non-halal butter but after explanation they no longer doubt our products,” he said when contacted yesterday.

In fact, the company had received some 1,500 orders for the layer cake from distributers in west Malaysia, Brunei and locally despite the confusion.

“We explained to our customers that our products are halal and the processing does not use the non-halal butter as it is much more costly than other butter brands,” he said.

He did not deny that since the non-halal issue concerning Golden Churn Creamery butter which contains pig DNA came up, many of their consumers especially Muslims doubted their products.

According to him, the demand for ‘kek lapis’ here continued to increase despite the issue.

“What is most important is that Gerai Tepian Sungai does not use Golden Churn product as we are using a cheaper and quality brand,” he revealed.

Established in 2003, Gerai Tepian Sungai is a popular choice due to its quality products which are reasonably priced.