A big break that gathered a lot of media attention is the Uttar Pradesh government banned products with a halal tag.
The production, storage, distribution, and sale of food products with the Halal certification has been prohibited with immediate effect, said the Uttar Pradesh government.
Halal products that are manufactured for export, however, will not be subject to the restrictions.
An official order said, "Strict legal measures will be enforced against any firm or individual engaged in the production, storage, distribution, buying, and selling of Halal-certified medicines, and cosmetics within Uttar Pradesh,"
Food products that have Halal certification are a parallel system that builds confusion regarding the grade of food items and is not justifiable under Section 89 of the Food Law Food Safety and Standards Act, the order said.
The right to decide the grade of food items is only with the administrations and institutions given in Section 29 of the said Act, who review the relevant standards as per the provisions of the Act.
It said that certain medicines and cosmetic products are reported to feature the Halal certificate on their labelling or packaging when there are "no provisions for marking Halal certification on labels in the government regulations associated to drugs and cosmetics", nor is there any remark of Halal certification in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and its connected rules.
The action comes after a police case was lodged against a firm and a few other organizations for "exploiting people's spiritual sentiments" to increase sales by delivering "forged" halal certificates.
The lawsuit has been registered against entities such as the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others for influencing religious sentiments to increase sales by delivering halal certificates to consumers of a specific religion, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement.
The complainant put up concerns over a large-scale conspiracy, demonstrating attempts to allegedly reduce the sale of products from businesses lacking the halal certificate, which is unlawful, the Uttar Pradesh government said.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust, in an announcement, termed the allegations as "baseless" and said it would take "essential legal standards to counter such misinformation".
Halal certification is cited on the labels of specific food products like sugar bakery products, dairy products, salty ready-to-eat savouries, peppermint oil, and edible oils etc, the Food Commissioner's office said.
Halal certification is a warranty that the sustenance is prepared in conformity with Islamic law and is unadulterated.
If a product comprises animals or animal byproducts that are supposedly restricted under the law, then it cannot receive a halal certification.
Specifically, halal foods are those that are produced, manufactured, processed, and stored utilizing machinery, equipment, and utensils that have been tidied up according to Islamic law and are free from any ingredient that Muslims are forbidden from eating.
