How To Keep An Eye On Fraudulent Halal Food/Meat Suppliers In Japan

For the Muslims living in Japan as well as the Muslim tourists to this island nation, it is important to make sure that they are actually consuming 100% Halal food/meat while eating out anywhere in the country.

In fact, the above statement is harder than it sounds. It is difficult to regulate halal food/meat suppliers either by the Japanese Government or by the various Halal certifying bodies spread across all over the country like mushrooms.  At the end of the day, it is the meat or food seller who can make sure that he or she is actually providing halal food to his or her customers all the time.

The problem with most of the Halal meat in Japan is that it comes from countries such as Australia, New Zealand or Brazil. So, even for the local Halal food/meat suppliers, it becomes difficult to visit farms and slaughterhouses in the base countries to make sure the animals are being slaughtered according to the most common Shariah standards given by Sharia scholars globally.

There might be some meat suppliers or wholesalers who would want to mix halal meat with non-Halal one as the later is little cheaper than the former.

Another reason they want to mix halal meat with the haram one at their shops and restaurants is that they want to show halal meat packaging with the halal label whenever a curious Muslim asks them to prove whether they are actually supplying halal meat in their restaurant.

I personally got a chance to meet with some so-called halal restaurant owners who follow the same practice of mixing Halal meat with the non-Halal one just to save some extra money.  They do not even bother to buy Halal soy sauce or halal spices as they are expensive than the halal ones in the Japanese market.

How To Keep An Eye On Fraudulent Halal Food/Meat Suppliers In Japan

As Japan is inviting more and more foreigners into the country to live and stay, the number of Muslims has increased significantly. The rise of the Muslim population has seen an increase in the number of restaurants which claim to offer halal meat and food. Although we can not control the outcome all the time, we the consumers have to be more assertive and ask these restaurants about the authenticity of their halal meat and the source they get it from if possible. We could also ask them to provide the halal meat labeling if in doubt.

Another way to confirm whether the meat is actually halal is to ask them whether they have any Muslim employee. If yes, you may call in that Muslim to verify whether the meat they are serving you is actually halal.

Still another way to confirm whether they are offering halal meat is that you may want to insist on them to obtain halal certification from a genuine halal certification body in the country.

The Muslims in Japan should encourage the Japanese government to pass some sort of halal law to protect the rights of Muslims consumers living in the country.

There is a group of Muslims who even value how animals are treated before they are slaughtered as much as how they are slaughtered. Another group of Muslims thinks that the meat imported from Australia is Halal while the chicken from Brazil is not halal.

Some slaughterhouses have already started slaughtering animals according to Islamic standards. However, the cost of that meat some times becomes prohibitive due to the high labor cost in Japan.