carrying the halal label
UAE Oreo cookies have come under the scanner for not carrying a halal label on a package of the chocolate biscuit.
According to a report in Gulfnews, the Abu Dhabi Food and Safety Authority confirmed that all Oreo biscuits were halal and did not contain ingredients that opposed the halal requirement.
Food products that contain the halal label comply with the requirements of Islamic Sharia.
Khalaf Al Hammadi, head of ESMA’s Standards Department, said, “In general, all standards for food products in the UAE stress on the halal requirement and accordingly only meat and poultry products or other products that has meat as part of its ingredients, will also require Halal certificate for such category. However, no link should be made between the halal certificate and the halal mark as long as there is no claim made otherwise by the manufacturer.”
Last May, Dubai Municipality addressed rumours circulating on social networking sites about Oreo biscuits that allegedly contained a small amount of alcohol. The municipality explained that there was a mistake translating the food ingredients into Arabic.
All Oreo biscuits distributed in the UAE are manufactured in Bahrain.