Indonesia as a country with a majority Muslim population needs to have a halal guarantee system that can guarantee the peace of mind of the people in consuming food products in circulation, both food products originating from within the country and from abroad.
Among the existing food products, food of animal origin, especially meat from halal animals, such as ruminants and poultry, has a high risk of becoming non-halal food due to the production process and / or mixing of non-halal food additives.
One of the critical points that can cause ruminants and poultry meat to be unlawful is the process of slaughtering animals that are not in accordance with Islamic shariah. The role of the halal slaughterer becomes very important in determining this.
Listed in Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture No. 13 of 2010 concerning Requirements for Ruminant Animal Slaughterhouse (RPH-R) and Meat Cutting Plant, each RPH-R is required to have a halal slaughterer who has competence not only from shari’ah aspects Islam, but also from the technical aspects of veterinary public health and animal welfare.
“In Indonesia there are two types of RPH-R (cattle), namely RPH-R which do not and apply stunning. The stunning is permissible, and is listed in the 1976 MUI Fatwa on Mechanical Slaughter of Animals, “said Henny Nuraini, lecturer at the Department of Production & Technology of Animal Husbandry of IPB as well as the LPPOM MUI Expert.
Meanwhile, continued Henny, Poultry Slaughterhouses (RPH-U) in Indonesia are divided based on the scale of production and facilities, while, traditional RPH-U with a production scale of 200-300 tails and limited equipment.
Semi-modern RPH-U with a capacity of more than 5,000 tails has been prepared conveyor equipment for hanging chickens. The conveyor capacity is around 5,000 per hour, which will help the cutting process.
In modern RPH-U the capacity is greater with more complete equipment, such as conveyors, stunning devices, parting tools until the freezing process.
“For the slaughtering process, both at RPH-R and RPH-U with all scales, it is still done manually by a halal slaughterer (juleha) using a knife each tail,” explained Henny.
In addition, based on food safety aspects, meat is a potentially hazardous food category because it can contain biological, chemical and physical hazards that threaten consumers’ health. The concept of food safety from animal origin in Indonesia is Safe, Healthy, Whole, and Halal (ASUH).
As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia is a major market destination for meat-producing countries in the world. In order to ensure that meat entering Indonesia meets ASUH requirements, the meat must come from Slaughterhouses (RPH) that have been approved by the Government of Indonesia, among others after the fulfillment of food safety requirements and established food halal conditions.
Based on Law No. 41 of 2014 concerning Animal Husbandry and Health, slaughter of halal animals must meet the requirements of the veterinary public health, animal welfare, and Islamic sharia. The slaughtering standard has been regulated in MUI FatwaNumber 12 of 2009 concerning Halal Slaughter Certification Standards. (*)
