Ingredients-checking ‘halal apps’ could provide false security

Photo: Man in a supermarket scanning a bar code on a product with his mobile phone

They’re easy to download and increasingly easier to use but ingredients verification apps that don’t tell the whole story of a product may be false security to an unknowing halal-seeking public.

On May 26 a company in Malaysia released an app called ‘Verify Halal’ that informs users if products are halal-certified by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) or by a JAKIM-recognized foreign halal certification body, as per current information held in the Global Halal Data Pool (GHDP).

Unlike apps already in the market such as fellow Malaysia-made Halal Buddy and U.S.-developed Scan Halal, JAKIM-supported Verify Halal informs users if products are halal-certified as opposed to whether ingredients are halal or not. According to local media reports, Verify Halal currently holds information of products from more than 6,000 Malaysian companies and 60 affiliated global certification bodies, and covers four countries—Brunei, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan.