Halal issues in pastry and bakery products: the halal gatekeepers of bakery ingredients / Wan Rusni Wan Ismail... [et al.]

The bakery and pastry industry is one of the fastest growing “cottage” industries in Malaysia. Being a Muslim-majority country, halal is a very important factor in securing the market share. Unlike other ready-to-eat products which ingredients come from raw materials, most ingredients and additives used in bakery and pastry industry are processed food components which raised the uncertainty on their halal status. Using qualitative semistructured interview, important findings have emerged pointing to somewhat serious issues pertaining to ambiguous ingredients in bakery and pastry application which requires immediate actions. A total of 12 pastry chefs were interviewed about their perception of the halal issue of baking ingredients. Results indicate strong awareness among the practitioners regarding the ambiguous ingredients in pastry and bakery products. However, the uncertainty and doubts of these ambiguous ingredients are often washed away by the trust they put in the ingredient’s suppliers, mentors and halal label on the packaging. Putting trust on other people in finding halal ingredients sounds positive and doubt-free. However, this might also lead us to becoming too complacent with what we use in pastry and bakery products without putting much effort to inspect the halal status of each ingredient we use. Recommendations to enlighten this matter require actions from all responsible parties including the chefs, suppliers, authority (JAKIM) as well as the end-user. This is also in accordance with the Islamic teaching which said that finding the halal food or things are the responsibilities of everyone

Malaysian Acceptance of Muslim-Friendly Hotels: What Else Can It Provide?

Recently, Malaysia promotes Muslim-friendly travel and hospitality. A Muslim-friendly hotel's terms of service and policies must be understood because the hotel industry is the one with the highest growth. This could resolve any problem, enhance awareness, and enhance hotel guest acceptance. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence hotel guests' acceptance of Muslim-friendly accommodations in Malaysia. Data for this study were acquired from 146 respondents using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis were aided by SPSS application to measure the relationship between administrative practices, common area practices, bedroom practices, services practices, food and beverage practices as well as awareness and the Muslim Friendly Hotel guest acceptance. Only four of the six factors—guest awareness, administrative procedures, bedroom procedures, and food and beverage procedures—are directly related to guest acceptance. In conclusion, this study contributes to the body of knowledge about the qualities that Muslim-friendly hotels value