MODERN PRODUCTS:

By

Mohamed El-Mouelhy

In the modern processing of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, we cannot escape from the issue of food ingredients that originate from animals, specially additives. The ingredients are made from various sources, including from Haram sources as well. The products from animal sources that may pose problems are given below:

1 FRESH MEAT:

There are many types of animals available and these may or may not be slaughtered according to Islamic law. Some of these animals include chicken, duck, turkey, quail, cattle, goat, sheep, rabbit, venison, kangaroo, etc.

2 MEAT PRODUCTS:

These include shelf-stable products such as those packed in cans and retort pouches like stews etc.; chilled and frozen ready to cook products like marinated cuts of meat and frozen raw burgers; precooked, chilled and frozen products like sausages and TV dinners; and products which are dehydrated or in the intermediate moisture range like meat floss, dried beef and Chinese sausage (lup cheong).

Another important group of meat products is those using a mixture of pork and non pork raw materials. These include luncheon meat, salamis, various types of sausages, etc. In these products, very often pork fat is used instead of beef fat. Of course, these products are also available in form to which no pork or lard are added as in Halal beef salamis and frankfurters. There are also available chicken and turkey rolls. Unless the ones that do not contain pork or pork products are made from Halal slaughtered animals no Muslim is going to purchase them.

3 OFFAL PRODUCTS:

Examples of these include liver, lungs, heart, intestines, tripe, brains and blood. Besides direct consumption, some of these can also be further processed into value added products. Intestines for example, in their wet or dry form, are used as casing for various types of sausages. All these must be from animals slaughtered in a Halal manner otherwise the whole product will not be acceptable. Blood is never acceptable under any circumstance.

4 BONES AND HIDE PRODUCTS:

Collagen and gelatine, which are used in many food preparations, are other important products from animals. The main sources are skin and bones. The production from skin basically involves an extraction process of several stages with increasing temperatures, filtration and concentration in a vacuum evaporator. On the other hand production from bones would involve the removal of fat, demineralisation by acid and extraction with dilute alkali. Besides being a source of gelatine, bone when converted to bone meal and purified, is used as a natural source of calcium and phosphorus that can be used in paediatric foods. The hides of cattle can also be processed into edible crackers, while chicken and pig skin can be emulsified to be used as ingredient in the production of emulsion type sausages. Also collagen extracted from skins is used in the manufacture of sausage casings. Again, unless the bones and hides are from Halal slaughtered animals these products can not be acceptable, as for pork products, forget it!

5 FAT AS FOOD:

Apart from lean meat, animal fat has been used as food for humans for a long time. Beside being highly digestible and providing high calories, fat plays an important role such as adding palatability to the lean meat because of the flavour and aroma it provides. Fats also carry fat soluble vitamins and have essential fatty acids and phospholipid. However, in the modern diet, the consumption of fat, specially saturated fat, has been reduced drastically for health reasons.

Animal fat from abattoirs is classified into edible and inedible fats. Edible fats are obtained from certain parts of the carcass that are certified sound and healthy by the Department of Primary Industry (DPI). Edible fats can be used in their original form or further processed by rendering into tallow from cattle and sheep or lard from swine. The rendering process basically involves heating the fatty tissue under pressure. After cooking, the pressure is released from the cooker and the settled mass withdrawn, purified and deodorised before packing.

The processed meat industry uses a lot of unprocessed fat in the production of various meat products like in burgers, sausages and other smallgoods. Back fat from swine is used substantially in the manufacture of sausages and salamis and is used for frying purposes. Shortenings from animal fat are also used in bakeries. Only Tallow and shortening made from the fats of Halal slaughtered animals can be use.

Emulsifiers such as glycerol monostearate, fatty acids such as stearic acid as well as glycerine are obtained through further processing of fats. These are being widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Muslims will consume any of these products only if the original animal was slaughtered in a Halal manner.

6 IMITATION PORK PRODUCTS:

Bacon and ham are traditional products made from pork. As such, they are clearly Haram. However, these products can also be made from beef, veal and lamb products and are made to resemble the original pork versions.

7- MEAT ANALOGUE:

In the production of some meat products such as burgers and frankfurters, textured

Vegetable protein (TVP) made from soy bean can be added as partial replacement for meat. However, there is also available burgers made from only TVP. Although TVP can be made from other sources, it is more commonly made from soy bean. This is generally known as meat alternates. However, those which completely replace meats are called meat analogues while those which are used in combination with meat, they are called meat extenders. Meat analogues can be made by three methods and in almost all cases the starting material is soy protein in one form or another. The first uses an extruder cooker, the second requires the use of a spinneret and the third method is by the fabrication of a soy protein lipid film.

8 SIMULATED MEAT:

Apart from the plain meat analogues, several products can also be made from the meat analogue with the addition of colour, flavour, stabilisers and other ingredients with heat and pressure applied to form the simulated meat. The mass formed can be cut into slices, cubes, bits or granules and can be cooked, baked, broiled or smoked to form products such as simulated minced beef or chicken nuggets, even strip-like bacon! The last product is made by laying randomly spun isolate fibres and binding together with a binder. To simulate the appearance of bacon, alternate layers of uncoloured and red coloured fibres are put together to give the lean and fat look of a strip of bacon. After pressing and heat setting, the product can be sliced like ordinary bacon.

In South East Asia they have their own versions of simulated meat. However the starting materials are usually from soy protein-lipid film they called "fucuk" and wheat gluten. Starting from fucuk, several types of simulated meat can be fabricated. In most cases, the process involves the addition of colour, spices and sugar in combination with heat Example of these products include vegetarian duck, vegetarian chicken drumstick and even salted fish. From wheat gluten, which is obtained by thoroughly removing the starch by repeated washing, simulated meat made include spiced meat.