Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration bans 'Halal' certified food products

The Office of the Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, in an official notification on Saturday, declared the ban.

The office of the Commissioner of UP's Food Safety and Drug Administration department, in an official notification on Saturday, declared a ban on the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of food products having halal-certification. "In exercise of the right vested in Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to comply with Section 30(2)(d) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, in view of public health, the manufacturing, storage, distribution and sale of food products having Halal certification within the limits of Uttar Pradesh state (except food items produced for export for exporters) is banned with immediate effect," said the official notification by the office of the Commissioner of UP's Food Safety and Drug Administration department.

The official notification mentioned the Halal certification of food products as a parallel system that creates confusion regarding the quality of food items and is completely against the basic intention of the Food Safety and Standards Act. The development came after an FIR was filed against four companies in Lucknow's Hazratganj Police Station by a complainant identified as Shailesh Sharma on Friday after which the state government and administration took cognizance of the matter.

According to the FIR, these companies were exploiting religious sentiments to boost sales by providing Halal certificates to customers of a specific religion. Illegal businesses are being run for financial gain, the complainant stressed. On Thursday, the complainant, while speaking to ANI said, "The halal certificate is being issued by four companies of Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. When we looked into the matter, we found that none of the companies, as of now, have been recognized by the Central government or any other government."

"I had filed a complaint regarding this yesterday in the police station, and an FIR was registered on the basis of the complaint and assurance for investigation was given by the police," he said, adding that further proceedings in the matter will be based on the outcome of the investigation. The names of the four companies in his complaint include Halala India Pvt Ltd from Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust from Delhi, Halala Council of India from Mumbai, and Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra from Mumbai.

It is noteworthy that institutions like FSSAI and ISI are duly authorised to certify the quality of food products. (ANI)

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