Cleansing the entire process and production facilities is one of the necessities in ensuring that a product is free from unclean things. Usually, in the cleaning process, it uses water. However, in some circumstances, the use of water can damage production facilities and/or laboratory equipment. With this condition, can you clean the tools but not with water? Like using oil, or powder/flour. (HalalMUI)
Indeed, not all production facilities of an affected product can be purified by using water because it is likely to affect the quality of the product. The facility is exposed to unclean mutawassithah (unclean medium) because of solid or liquid material which is not from pork. In the industrial world, the ingredients used as cleaning agents are the same as products. For example, liquid products are cleaned with liquid material of the same type as oil processing facilities rinsed with oil as well (without involving heat). Unclean contained in the facility is an oil-soluble material.
While solid products (for example whey powder or lactose, non-dairy creamer), the production facilities are cleaned with powder products in the form of finished products or one of the ingredients contained in the product. Whey powder and lactose are likely to contain unclean small amounts of animal enzymes that are not halal certified. Non-dairy creamer contains emulsifying ingredients which may come from animals that are not halal certified.
The fatwa of MUI which was established on December 30, 2010, by referring and reiterating the MUI Fatwa Number 4 of 2003 states: “equipment may not be used alternately between pork and non-pork products even though it has gone through a washing process”. (HalalMUI)
Furthermore, purification of an object, including a means of production, which is exposed to unclean mutawassithah (unclean medium) is basically done by using water, as the opinion of the majority (jumhur) of scholars.
The production equipment made of hard objects and does not absorb unclean (tasyarub), for example, made of iron or steel, when exposed to unclean mutawassithah (medium unclean) can be purified by using other than water, as long as the odor is in the form of odor, taste, and color can be lost , as the Hanafi school of thought argues.
And production equipment may be used interchangeably between halal products and non-halal products that are exposed to unclean mutawithah if the production process is carried out purification as stipulated above.
With regard to the provisions of the MUI fatwa, what is meant by:
Unclean mutawassithah (medium unclean) is unclean which results from coming into contact with unclean goods other than the urine of a baby boy, as well as pigs and dogs or both derivatives. Production equipment is all equipment that is in direct contact with product materials which, if washed with water, can be damaged. (HalalMUI)
Source: Jurnal Halal, 88
(HalalMUI)
