In recent years, clean eating or healthy food has become a trend. Ready-to-eat salads are one of the favourite choices for clean eating. This food can be prepared easily and quickly because fresh vegetables and fruits are the main ingredients. However, it turns out that there are still critical ingredients in salads. Which ingredients need to be ensured to have BPJPH certification? The following is an explanation from the LPH LPPOM auditor, Naomi Carissa Intaqta.
Clean eating or clean and healthy food is becoming a trend among celebrities and the public. Awareness of the importance of health in the long term increases the demand for organic and non-GMO (Genetically modified organism) foods, which will become a trend and possibly a profound lifestyle change. Ready-to-eat salads are one of the favourite choices for clean eating, salad is defined as food in the form of green vegetables that are practically doused with various spices and sauces and then added with other vegetables or fruits [1].
Salads with large portions provide abundant health benefits, such as fiber in vegetables and maintaining gastrointestinal colon health. In addition, fruits and grains, as sources of antioxidants and healthy fats, can reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, and contain high vitamins and minerals [2]. It is also easy and fast to serve. In addition to health, agricultural and plantation products in Indonesia used as raw materials for salads will help improve the economy and people’s welfare.
Raw Materials and Manufacturing Process
Ready-to-eat salads widely available on the market are a mixture of fresh vegetables and fruits that are topped and dressed. Fresh vegetables and fruits commonly used include lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, kale, beet leaves, corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, berries, avocado, lemon, banana, apple, and pineapple.
The dressing used can be fresh herbs or processed spices, there are various types of salad dressings, such as French mayonnaise dressing, the most popular and easy-to-find type of sauce, savoury sesame soy dressing that is widely available in Asia, honey mustard dressing for lovers of sweet flavours, ginger wasabi dressing for lovers of spicy flavours, minty yoghurt dressing that provides a creamy texture, and other types of salad creations.
If you want to try making a ready-to-eat salad, for example, cucumber yoghurt dressing, you can do it by preparing cucumber, mint leaves, yoghurt, white wine vinegar, lemon, salt, and pepper. Roughly chop ¼ of cucumber with ½ small package of mint leaves to put in a food bowl. Then, we can mix 150 grams of yoghurt in a bowl, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, ½ lemon, and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste [3]. We can also add various toppings according to our needs, such as grains, fresh or processed nuts, fresh or processed eggs, fresh or processed milk, processed cereals, and processed chicken or grilled fish.
Halal Aspect
Ready-to-eat salads dominated by vegetables and fruits do not necessarily have halal status for consumption. Fresh vegetables and fruits are not in doubt about their halal status, but the addition of toppings and the use of dressings in ready-to-eat salads need to be considered. Sometimes, the added ingredients are not used as toppings but for other functions, such as adding whey protein and vitamins to a healthy diet menu or body-building program.
Suppose animal derivatives, such as animal meat and animal flavourings, are used to make ready-to-eat salads. In that case, it must be ensured that they come from halal animals that are slaughtered according to sharia procedures. Meanwhile, the food additives and auxiliary materials used are checked for ingredients from marine animals and plants.
An example of a topping on a salad is cheddar cheese. This type of cheese is a processed milk product that can be made through a fermentation process by acid bacteria, with the help of rennet enzymes to curdle the milk. Microbial products in their growth media require carbon and nitrogen sources that can come from haram animals or halal animals that are not slaughtered according to Islamic rules.
Also, the microbial culture, purification materials, auxiliary materials, and other materials used should be considered. Rennet enzyme itself generally comes from the stomach of young ruminants, it is necessary to ensure that the source of the animal is halal and has been slaughtered according to sharia.
For example, a simple dressing on a salad is the addition of honey. It should be noted that the honey used is free of impurities, including those that are clean from bee carcasses. Another example of a dressing ingredient is yoghurt, which is a microbial product, so it is necessary to trace the microbial culture, growth media, purification materials, auxiliary materials, and other materials used.
Additional flavours, dyes, and stabilizers are also often used in yoghurt so that they become a critical point of halal yoghurt. Truffle oil is a popular dressing produced by soaking truffle mushrooms in vegetable oil such as olive oil. The aroma and taste of truffle mushrooms will be extracted from the oil.
The process of collecting truffle mushrooms uses trained female pigs and dogs that can sniff out the presence of this mushroom, so that it becomes a critical point of halal where the touch of pigs and dog saliva are classified as severe unclean contaminants. Production facilities and the use of auxiliary materials or additional materials are also considered.
Sometimes, small portions of bread are also a good pairing for salad so that you feel full while maintaining your calorie intake. If you look closely at the critical points of bread, they are in the raw materials, additional materials, and auxiliary materials used.
Although wheat is a raw material that is halal, in the manufacturing process, it is fortified to increase its vitamin and mineral content. Fortificants such as the amino acid L-cysteine, a wheat gluten softener, can come from human hair extraction, animal fur extraction, and microbial products.
L-cysteine derived from human hair is haram, based on MUI FATWA No. 2 / MUNAS VI / MUI / 2000, the use of body parts is forbidden. L-cysteine from animal fur needs to be investigated further, sheep’s wool can be taken while still alive, but poultry will be in pain if its feathers are taken, so they must be slaughtered first, this slaughter must be in accordance with Islamic rules.
With the explanation above, salad lovers, as a clean eating option, must be patient enough to enjoy ready-to-eat salads sold in various shopping centres in big cities in Indonesia until they obtain a BPJPH halal certificate. If you want to make it yourself, ensure the ingredients used are guaranteed halal by looking at the halal label on the packaging for each ingredient used. (***)
Source of Literacy
[1] A History of the American Salad archived 2013-01-22 di Wayback Machine., food.pop-cult.
[2] Mark L. Dreher. (2018). Whole Fruits and Fruit Fiber Emerging Health Effects. Nutrients, 10(12).
[3] Good food Application. Page : https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-salad-dressings-you-can-make-minutes.
