Halal Certification for Bakeries

Every food item has a halal status. Halal is a term that refers to foods prepared in accordance with Muslim dietary laws. The opposite of halal is haram. Pork, alcohol, and meat from improperly slaughtered halal animals are all examples of haram goods. If any haram ingredients are used in a food product, those ingredients render the entire product haram. Sometimes, a food may have questionable ingredients. The user doesn’t know what they are or where they came from. In that case, the food or ingredient is known as mushbooh. With a product like bread, it can be difficult for consumers to determine its status. On the surface, many breads look like they may be mushbooh.

What Makes a Bread Halal?

Bread is a simple product. On the surface, it seems that it would likely be classified halal. However, mass-produced breads can easily contain haram or doubtful (mushbooh) ingredients. When questions about halal status arise with bread products, it’s often due to the addition of preservatives, decorative elements, enzymes, or dough conditioners.

For example, lard is sometimes used as shortening in mass-produced baked goods and some enzymes are derived from animal sources. Neither ingredient is halal. Also, L-cysteine is often used to improve dough texture. This amino acid can be derived from many sources, including human hair and duck feathers. The former is unanimously unlawful and haram while the former can be considered as halal. Without the halal certified symbol, breads that use these ingredients are doubtful (mushbooh).

When you provide the American Halal Foundation certification symbol on your halal bread and bakery products, your customers immediately know the status of the food they will be purchasing, and they can feel good about buying a product they know has been certified. Halal certification can open whole new markets for bakeries. Certified bakeries and manufacturers are selling customers peace of mind, not just baked goods.

How do you get your products certified? Halal certification involves the regular inspection of food production facilities. In addition to looking for the origins of the raw materials, our inspectors also ensure that all international halal standards are followed. This doesn’t just mean production. Sanitation, storage, and transportation practices are of material interest to our auditors, too.

Why Get Halal Certified?

It’s not always easy to find halal breads in a standard supermarket. Halal consumers are seeking to adhere to halal dietary restrictions, but it can be hard to do so. Halal certification makes it possible to establish a connection with this market. While halal certifications are thorough, they’re not burdensome. Our team has extensive experience in fitting halal certification standards into existing quality assurance systems.

Bakeries can derive numerous benefits from our halal certification process. The halal distinction is a springboard to more opportunities, not a drawback. At American Halal Foundation, we are happy to provide you halal certification. Contacting us, +1 (630) 759-4981, is the first step towards getting your food products certified as halal.