Professor of IPB: In 2019, All Products Circulating in Indonesia Must Be Halal
According to the Professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bogor Agricultural University (FMIPA IPB), Prof. Dr. Ir. Tun Tedja Irawadi, MS, at the Press Conference of Pre Scientific Oration at IPB Baranangsiang Campus (20/9), halalness guarantee of a material or product is a fundamental requirement for Muslim consumers. The Muslim population in Indonesia in 2010 had reached 205 million people. This amount was a huge consumer potential for the food, beverage, medicine and cosmetics industries. Prof. Tun Tedja had conducted a Professor's Scientific Oration on Saturday (22/9) at the Andi Auditorium, IPB Dramaga Campus, Bogor.
Prof. Tun Tedja said that since the end of the 1980s halal certification affairs had been handled by the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) in collaboration with IPB by establishing an Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics (LPPOM).
"In 2014, the House of Representatives (DPR) legitimated the Law No. 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantees or the JPH Law. This JPH Law is the basis for the establishment of a Halal Product Guarantee Board or BPJPH which has a very important role in the implementation of this law which will be effective for five years after its promulgation. "This means that in October 2019, this law must have been implemented. All products that enter, circulate and are circulated in Indonesia must be halal," she said.
In the halal certification process, there are three important issues, namely forgery, unclear law (halal or haram) of products due to material processing, and different views of the schools. To bridge these three matters, a fatwa from ulama is needed and supported by a scientific approach. The implementation of the law must apply the principle of traceability, authenticity and security. These three principles require chemical discipline.
"There are critical points of material haramness, namely animal meat, ethanol, microbial products, vegetable-based products and other products. All parts of the body of a pig are haram whereas derivative products of the pork are used. Pork meat includes in the most unclean category so that the contact with it results in haramness of material contacted. Insulin is from the pig pancreas. The enzyme from the stomach of the pig is currently trendy. The skin can be made into gelatin, while the blood can become a medium of fermentation. In the real practice, fat, skin and fur cannot be completely separated from pork so the MUI Fatwa Commission states that all components of pigs and their derivative products are also haram ingredients," she explained.
Another critical point according to her occurs when the material transforms into the final product. Transformation does not only involve chemical reactions but can also be through physical and biological processes or a combination of these three processes. For example, the process of making vitamin C from D-glucose which is generally obtained from hydrolysis of starch. The critical point lies in the use of microbial growth media in the isomeration reaction, the auxiliary material in the physical transformation process. Another instance is the utilization of resin in the purification process. Resin is generally halal but the manufacturing process can involve haram ingredients such as pig gelatin as a stabilizer even though in the end the gelatin is separated from the main product.
"There is something interesting in determining the halalness of alcohol. There are types of materials which according to the MUI fatwa have two status, i.e. halal or haram. Ethanol from the khamr industry is clearly haram, but ethanol which is not for liquor and later transformed into isoamil acetate turns out to be halal. This material is widely used as a banana flavor in food," she said.
According to this IPB Professor of the Chemistry Department, all halal material authentication activities or anything related to the ingredients lead us to enter the world of chemistry. Chemistry studies the characteristics of material, its transformation and the energy involved in the transformation. (zul/ZSP)
