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.

Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, in a statement released two weeks ago, stated that after evaluating reports from the department of scientific services and Health Ministry which had analysed 17 samples from four districts, the results were negative for porcine DNA.

When FMT highlighted this to Jakim’s halal hub deputy director Hakimah Mohd Yusoff, she said the discrepancy might be due to differences in methodology.

“The differences may be because of different method testing or equipment or contamination at level handling. Maybe best if you check with the department of chemistry,” she said in text message.

She also conveyed that samples were taken from three states – Johor, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur – where tests revealed that they were positive for porcine DNA.

She added that the tests were conducted at the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya but did not reveal the amount of samples gathered for testing.

She added that regardless of other regional religious authorities’ decision, Jakim stood firm with its decision that the product was not halal.

On July 19, the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department declared the product non-halal after it was found to contain porcine DNA. In May, the Johor Islamic Religious Department said it found contamination in the product.

Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn is one of the dairy products produced by Ballantyne Food Pty from New Zealand and Australia.

On its website, Ballantyne Food guaranteed Muslim consumers that all their products were in full compliance with regulatory guidelines as laid down by respective halal certifying bodies.