Religion, regulation, consumption by John Lever

Author:John Lever [Lever, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General, Political Science, Globalization, Agriculture & Food, Medical, Nutrition, Religion
ISBN: 9781526103666
Google: Km65DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2018-01-09T05:51:06+00:00

Halal biotech: food, health, and animal feed

At the conference in Brussels the researcher met the halal and kosher coordinator of a company that is a global supplier of bioscience-based ingredients to food, health and animal feed industries. More specifically, the company produces cultures and dairy enzymes, probiotics and natural colours. The company is certified by several kosher bodies and halal-certified by HFCE, IFANCA and the Halal Feed and Food Inspection Authority (HFFIA), based in the Netherlands. The company has offices around the world, including Malaysia and Singapore. In the eyes of the company’s halal and kosher coordinator and his assistant, kosher certification and regulation is ‘extremely efficient’ and ‘modern’. The company chose to be kosher-certified by OU and also by OK Kosher (Circle K), another leading kosher certifier, as these were seen to be the most reliable choices. For certification of individual kosher products around the world, the company is also certified by Star K, yet another leading kosher certifier. Even if these certifiers are competitors they recognise each other’s certificates and this is a big advantage for both companies and kosher organisations and their inspectors. Hence, when inspectors do inspections they can easily spot and approve raw materials, ingredients and products that are certified by these organisations.

The cost of kosher certification is outlined in a contract that was written up when an agreement on certification came into effect. The company pays an annual fee that includes annual routine inspections and there are extra costs in connection with additional inspections. Altogether the company receives four types of auditors/inspectors from ISO and customers, as well as local and foreign authorities. Hence, kosher audits/inspections are only one category among a whole range of others and not really considered to be that different. The main thing for companies is that requirements and regulations are clear so that they can comply with these in order to obtain certificates they can show to their customers. Kosher inspectors from the major certifiers are for the most part properly educated to undertake inspections and oversee the process of qualification.

In this company, most kosher logos are to be found on accompanying documents and certificates and not so much on products themselves. Consequently, audits are at least as important as inspections, as most of the documentation is found in offices or electronically. Some kosher requirements can be ‘negotiated’. For example, kosher principles stipulate that if you have produced in a non-kosher manner and will produce kosher afterwards you have to kosherise equipment and leave this inactive for 24 hours before a final scald of the equipment. Unsurprisingly, a multinational company like this one is uninterested in leaving equipment inactive for 24 hours, as this is inefficient and expensive. Hence, the company negotiated alternatives with the rabbinic supervisor from the kosher certification body in question and an alternative and more ‘suitable’ solution was found. This type of negotiation is often premised on the degree to which the kosher inspector, on the one hand, and the company and its coordinator, on the other, have a personalised relationship.

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