In its home country, Taiwan, the boba drink is called zh?nzh? n?ichá, which means pearl milk tea. While in America and the United Kingdom dubbed Bubble Tea. Not only in Indonesia, this drink, is also famous in China, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Europe, Canada, and the United States.
Initially, boba or “pearl” is a mixture for milk tea. Over time, businesses continue to innovate so that boba is also a mixture for serving drinks that are formulated with a variety of flavors and mixtures of other ingredients. Generally, this drink is enjoyed in cold conditions.
Not only delicious and refreshing, as a Muslim consumer of course we must know in advance what ingredients are in boba. Is it good for health? And how’s the halal thing?
Dr. Ir. Sedarnawati Yasni, M.Agr, lecturer in Food Science and Technology, Bogor Agricultural University and halal auditor of the Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics Indonesia Council of Ulama (LPPOM MUI), said that the development of boba beverage products is not difficult because raw materials are easy to find and prospects the market is quite bright in Indonesia, so it can compete with similar drinks that already exist. Even so there are some things that need to be noted. Boba, for example.
There are two main ingredients needed to make boba, namely tapioca flour and sugar. “Actually the halal boba critical point is quite low because the manufacturing process uses minimal technology. One thing to watch out for is the use of sugar. In this case, there are two types of sugar that can be used, namely palm sugar and granulated sugar, “explained Sedarnawati.
When viewed from the composition of raw materials, palm sugar processing involves only a few chemicals, namely sodium metabisulfite. The critical point of halal substances is relatively low. While the process of making sugar needs to go through several stages, starting from the process of extraction, purification, evaporation, crystallization, to drying.
These stages of the process have the opportunity to use decolorization materials that use activated carbon. If this activated carbon comes from mining products or from charcoal, then it certainly doesn’t matter. However, when using bone char, it must be ascertained to come from halal animals slaughtered according to Islamic law.
In addition, gelatin is also one ingredient that is sometimes used in Boba. This sponging agent turns out to have a critical point which is quite dangerous. Typically, gelatin is made from the bones and skins of livestock such as cattle, buffalo, goats, fish and pigs. If the gelatin used is derived from animals, it needs to be ascertained from halal animals and slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.
“Gelatin is one of the most critical ingredients in terms of halalism for Muslims, because almost all gelatin products are imported from abroad. Even though it is widely used for various kinds of daily consumption products, “said Ir. Muti Arintawati, M.Sc., Director of Halal Audit LPPOM MUI. (*)
