Uncovering factors driving consumers' confidence on halal logos on food products in Malaysia

• Published in: Journal of ISSAAS Vol. 13; no. 2
• Main Authors: Rezai, G, Mohamed, Z, Shamsudin, M.N, Chiew, E.F.C., Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia, Dept. of Agribusiness and Information Systems
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2007
• Subjects: ALIMENTOS; CONTROL DEL ETIQUETADO; CONTROLE DU MARQUAGE; FOOD POLICIES; FOODS; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_28485; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_28709; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_3023; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_3032; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_4533; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_6195; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_7367; ISLAMIC COUNTRIES; LABELLING CONTROLS; MALAISIE; MALASIA; MALAYSIA; NORMAS; NORME; PAISES ISLAMICOS; PAYS ISLAMIQUE; POLITICA ALIMENTARIA; POLITIQUE ALIMENTAIRE; PROCESAMIENTO; PROCESSING; PRODUIT ALIMENTAIRE; TRAITEMENT
• ISSN: 0859-3132

All foods consumed by Muslims must meet the Islamic dietary code called Halal. Halal is an Arabic term meaning permissible and Muslim consumers are found to be very concerned about the Halalness of the foods they consume. They believe that the Halal issue is the total quality control measures involved in monitoring the slaughtering process, handling, storage and ingredients used during food processing. Thus Halal logo also is a way to inform and to reassure Muslims that food products and all the ingredients are Halal and the products are processed based on the Halalness requirement by Islamic laws. The aim of this endorsement is to indicate that their products meet the Islamic standards. However, several food-related lawsuits have made media headlines recently. The High 5 stated that its bakery products were cooked in 100% Halal oil when in fact it was from Israel or Germany, which is doubtful about being Hal(The Malay Mail, 14 Sep. 2006). The Dinding2 poultry also was sued for not ensuring that is products were Halal, and this suit was settled RM100 million(New Straits Times, 20 January 2006).The lack of enforcement and monitoring in the usage of certified Halal logo has caused the public to question the validity of Halal logo on some of the products or services. Therefore the aim of this study is to acquire information on how trustworthy the Halal logo might be, and how confident the consumers are with the Halal logo which is displayed an manufacturing food trivia. A survey was conducted in Klang Valley, where 600 Muslim respondents were interviewed via structural questionnaires to gather information regarding their level of confidence towards Halal logo on food products. The factor analysis was used to determine the factors which influence consumers' confidence towards Halal logo. Confidence factors related to safety, as well as government involvement, advertisement and manufacturing practice seemed to be the main determinants of consumers' confidence on Halal logo. However the lack of trustworthiness on international Halal logos was one of the factors which reduced the confidence level among those consumers.