Besides being a label, halal assures that food is high quality, safe, clean, and has high nutritional value. To achieve this, DOST-ITDI continually implements high-impact projects to promote halal research and development in support of DOST’s Halal S&T Program. Among these is a halal audit of processes and processing plants where products are manufactured.
Central to the program is developing the human resource on halal auditing and establishing a cadre of topnotch Halal Auditors through the Lead Auditor Halal Training and Certification Program. This program was pursued in cooperation with the Malaysia Halal Consultation and Training Agency, an affiliate of the International Halal Integrity Alliance. Chosen participants from R&D Institutes and DOST regions attended the training and re-certification in 2019 and 2021, respectively. These activities aimed to upgrade and strengthen their knowledge of the halal food management system to support the increasing demand for halal products in the local market. The halal audit is the first step in preparing a company for halal certification.
The trained DOST-ITDI halal auditors had been practicing and honing their expertise in halal auditing in some companies in the Metro. In April, its Food Processing Division (FPD) and certified halal lead auditors conducted a plant assessment and halal audit at Fenor Foods International Corp. in Caloocan City.
Fenor Foods International Corp. is one of the industry partners of the PCIEERD-GIA-funded project on “Development of Halal Compliant Dehydrated Food Products from Selected Food Materials (Fruits, vegetables, and Root Crops). Fenor manufactures export-quality dried tropical fruits and fish. The company’s owner and founder, Leonor D. Echavez, started the company in 1993 with just adobo and roasted peanuts as the main products. By 2000, Fenor Foods ventured into dried fish processing and exported its products to the United States and Canada.
Through the years, the manufacturing lines of Fenor Foods expanded to dried mango, coconut, cantaloupe, soursop, and other local fruits. They also make flavoring for desserts and fillings for Japanese mochi; according to Echavez, their most recent innovation is their ube powder for cakes.
With their success in food manufacturing and export, Fenor Foods is now gearing up for halal products, which continue to gain an increasing share in local and foreign markets.
Maria Elsa M. Falco, Supervising Science Research Specialist, Project Leader, and Certified Halal Lead Auditor, said, “the plant assessment and halal audit is the first step to prepare the company for halal certification.”
Together with five other DOST-ITDI-certified halal lead auditors, Fenor Foods was audited based on the fundamental requirements of the Halal Assurance Management System (HAS). This initial assessment will prepare them for their eventual halal certification in the future, which will contribute to a globally competitive halal industry in the Philippines.
Other measures have already been implemented to support the DOST Halal S&T Program, such as establishing halal processing facilities. In 2019, the Philippine National Halal Laboratory and Science Center was opened in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. The center is envisioned as a “one-stop shop” for developing halal-certified products compliant with international standards and requirements. DOST-ITDI’s Halal Food R&D Facility in Taguig followed and was inaugurated in the same year.
Most recently, “our team had established HAS or Halal Assurance System for processing various products like bananas as chips, catsup, and frozen saba and is now available for adoption by processors,” Falco said. Similarly, also developed is a generic HAS manual for selected food ingredients, such as onion, garlic, black pepper, and chili. It also listed tests for the halalness of those ingredients, including physicochemical analysis for parameters such as moisture, water activity, Scoville heat test, pH, and porcine detection. Likewise, a Halal Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HHACCP) plan for these selected food ingredients was designed.
Thus, a bigger and more competitive halal-driven market is in the works with these halal interventions that are all STI (science, technology, and innovation) – based and strong partnerships with the local industry/manufacturers. (MVAtienza, DOST-ITD S&T Media Service)
