To strengthen the national halal supply chain, LPH LPPOM held a talk show themed “Strengthening Halal from Upstream through Halal Meat Grinding” at the Gren Alia Hotel, Jakarta. This activity is part of the series of the 1446 H Syawal Festival and a strategic stage to voice the importance of halal assurance from the starting point of food production—meat grinding—which is often overlooked but holds significant potential risks to the halal status of the final product.
As an opening to the discussion, Ety Syartika, Acting Head of the DKI Jakarta Province Industry, Trade, Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises (PPKUKM) Office, conveyed the importance of strengthening the foundation of the halal industry from the upstream side.
“The global halal industry is growing rapidly and showing positive trends in various sectors such as food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, opening up great opportunities for Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population in the world to become the center of the global halal industry, so that strengthening the halal aspect from upstream, including at critical points such as meat grinding which is often overlooked, becomes a moral and legal responsibility for the industry in guaranteeing the halalness of products to consumers,” he said.
He also emphasized that meat grinding is the starting point for transforming raw materials into processed products. Equipment, cleanliness, process flow, and personnel competence greatly influence halal status.
“Meat grinding as the starting point for the transformation of raw materials into processed products plays an important role in determining the halal status of the final product, because various factors such as equipment, cleanliness, process flow, and personnel greatly influence it, especially considering that ground meat is widely used in the culinary and ready-to-eat food industries, so supervision from the beginning of the process is very crucial,” he continued.
To overcome this challenge, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has taken several concrete steps. Among them are conducting an inventory and mapping of meat grinding units, providing halal training facilities for business actors, and building cross-sector synergy with LPH LPPOM, MUI, BPJPH, and the Food Security Service.
Ground Meat: Critical Point in Halal Product Assurance
Meanwhile, Dr. Ir. Muslich, M.Si, Director of Partnership and Halal Audit Services at LPH LPPOM, revealed that the main vulnerability in meat grinding is customers’ lack of knowledge of the halal status of meat they bring.
“The critical thing is that the meat brought by customers to the grinder is either halal or non-halal meat, making it difficult to ensure the halal status of the meat, that is why it is necessary for grinding service managers to create procedures to ensure that the ground meat can be guaranteed to be halal, such as facilities that are dedicated to halal and only used for halal meat,” he explained.
Muslich also emphasized the importance of ensuring that the meat comes from a halal-certified slaughterhouse (RPH) and the dangers of using additional ingredients whose origins are often unclear in the meat processing process.
“We must ensure that the meat is halal certified, this includes slaughtering according to Islamic law and is carried out by a halal-certified slaughterhouse of course. In the process of making processed products based on ground meat, seasonings such as flavorings and flavor enhancers are often added. These additional ingredients can come from animals, plants, or synthetics whose origins are unclear, they can come from halal ingredients or haram and unclean ingredients,” he added.
Challenges of Halal Certification for MSEs: The Reality of Indonesian Meatball Traders
Representing the voice of business actors, Lasiman as Chairman of the Noodle and Meatball Traders Association (APMISO), explained a surprising fact: only 1.5% of meatball traders have obtained halal certificates, even though this segment absorbs 70% of meat in the national market—the majority of which comes from MSEs.
“In Indonesia, only 1.5% of meatball traders have Halal Certification. In fact, 70% of the meat circulating in the community is absorbed by meatball traders and is dominated by MSEs. Ground meat is the main raw material in making meatballs. The potential for meatballs to become non-halal is that if the grinding process is not guaranteed halal, then the meatball products produced will also be non-halal,” said Lasiman.
He emphasized that halal certification meets regulations and builds consumer trust and MSE competitiveness. “Meat grinders have the potential to become a medium for cross-contamination between halal and non-halal meat if not managed properly. Halal certification builds consumer trust. Fulfills the Regulatory Requirements set by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and increases the competitiveness of MSE meatball traders. Good synergy will significantly impact meatball traders, especially MSEs, consumers, and the halal industry development in Indonesia,” he said.
APMISO is also ready to take an active part. One of them is by providing training and facilitating meatball UMK actors and housewives who need halal meat grinders,” concluded Lasiman.
Fatwa Perspective: Halalness is Not Enough Upstream, But Must Be Whole
Closing the talk show session, KH. Asrorun Niam Sholeh, Head of the MUI Fatwa Division, reminded us of the importance of maintaining the principle of halalness from the ingredients and the tools, processes, and other stages.
“In addition to the grinding process, there are also important things that can affect the halalness of meat and its processed products, based on MUI Fatwa No. 12 of 2009 concerning Halal Slaughter Certification Standards, related to animals that are slaughtered, of course, they must be halal animals, tools, slaughtering processes, processing, storage and shipping must be in accordance with Islamic law,” he explained.
He added that if the grinding tool was previously exposed to dirt or contaminated with haram meat, a purification process must be carried out according to Islamic law, or known as tathhir syar’i. “In the grinding process, of course, ingredients such as auxiliary materials, flavorings and other additional materials also need to be ensured of their halalness and purity. If the used grinding tool is exposed to filth or contaminated with haram meat and will be used for grinding halal meat, then it is necessary to carry out the tathhir syar’i process or purification like the tool that is exposed to filth, then the procedure for purification and purification without using water,” he explained. (ZUL/YN)
