- Wednesday, September 11, 2024
‘Halal certification of food products is a parallel system which creates confusion regarding the quality of food items,’ a notification from the UP government said.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AUTHORITIES in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, have put a ban on distribution and sale of Halal-certified products, including dairy, garments and even medicine with immediate effect, calling it illegal.
Bakery products, edible oil, sugar and other products that are labelled as ‘Halal-certified’ by farms manufacturing them would not be distributed and sold, a notification by the state’s government said on Sunday (19).
“Halal certification of food products is a parallel system which creates confusion regarding the quality of food items,” the notification said.
However, export products have been exempted.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is the country’s top body in charge of deciding on the standards of most food products sold on its soil and also determines the standards they should meet, the notification added.
Uttar Pradesh, which is home to nearly 240 million people, is ruled by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand Hindu monk politician who many see as the former’s political successor, as its chief minister.
Adityanath and his government have been accused by critics of promoting a divisive agenda against the state’s sizeable Muslim population. They have, however, denied it constantly.
“Religion should not be brought into food. There were many items such as garments, sugar, etc which were being branded as Halal, which is against the law,” Uttar Pradesh’s BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi was quoted as saying by Reuters on Monday (20).
