Dr. Hüseyin Kâmi BÜYÜKÖZER
As a society, we know how important milk and milk-based foods are. These products are indispensable for everyone from newborn babies to octogenarian grandmothers and grandfathers.
I am writing as the author of our Turkish book titled “What We Eat, What We Drink, Are They Halal or Haram? FOOD REPORT”, which was first published in 1986, in 2024, when we published its 12th edition. My book, which we have distributed in its 12th edition, has received generally positive reactions throughout the country to date.
At first, the messages I received from both my readers and our volunteers who visited our sites were summarised as “Your explanations and warnings about additives are OK. However, what will we eat and drink? Which products do you recommend to us?”
The year is 2024, instead of such anxious complaints, there is a rush to find GIMDES certified products. According to statistics, milk production in our country is expressed as 23-25 million tons per year. Although there are 24 companies that produce GIMDES Halal certified milk-based products, they only meet a quarter of our country’s production. Our four or five big companies that insist on not getting a certificate largely constitute this suspicious area.
As Muslim Consumers, according to the order of our religion, we are obliged to consume products in which these additives are obtained not from “animals that are forbidden to be eaten and by forbidden methods” but from “animals that are halal to be eaten and by halal methods”.
I would like to emphasise that we are in widespread doubt and concern due to the fact that almost all of these additives, which are referred to with technical names such as Pepsin, Rennet, Lipase, Chymosin, Microbial, Enzyme, Mono and Diglyceride, Gelatin, etc. are of animal origin, the vast majority of them are imported from foreign countries, a significant portion of those who produce these additives are non-Muslims, and a significant portion of the companies that import them are unconscious and careless. Your product labels do not provide detailed information that would satisfy a Muslim consumer. However, providing complete and satisfactory information is essential for producer-consumer dialogue and is also a civilized obligation.
Here, there is pollution arising from both the producer and the consumer not fulfilling their own rights and obligations. Demonstrating awareness and mutual understanding and breaking the insistence of companies not to obtain a certificate is a convenience that will relieve our society.
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