Popular American pretzel shop chain, Auntie Anne’s, has had a ruff time recently; it made headlines when its application for halal certification was rejected by the local Islamic governing body, JAKIM. The reason? One of their menu items is called the ‘Pretzel Dog’. The use of the word ‘dog’ on the menu will be confusing to Muslims, according to JAKIM, and therefore should be removed from the menu before it can be approved as Halal.

The moment this hit the news, netizens all over the country were up in arms against JAKIM, calling the move everything from silly, embarrassing and backward. JAKIM has said that they’ve received complaints from Muslim tourists who were confused about the use of the word and it cast some doubt on whether the food is actually Halal, since dogs are considered unclean according to Islamic teaching. JAKIM suggested changing the name to ‘Pretzel Sausage’.

Paws for thought

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was quoted by the Malay Mail Online saying, ‘Please don’t make us seem stupid and backwards’, noting that hot dogs are a Western food and the term, which comes from the English language, is one that has always been used in Malaysia.

Others have opted for path most travelled in Malaysia: sarcasm. One commenter suggested that pet shops rename their dogs to sausages, while Marina Mahatir took to Facebook to say:

The world has gone barking mad

Frankly, this whole issue seems to be going off the rails. Various bouts of ridiculousness, such as a report in the Daily Mail UK, claimed that the food chain’s certification was revoked – but Auntie Anne’s never had a certificate.

The vendor was still in the application stage – and this application was rejected because they submitted only one application for all their outlets, where JAKIM prefers that a venue apply separately for each outlet and also submit a separate application for the central kitchen which is where most of the food is prepared.

That sounds fair to me. It makes sense that the central kitchen be inspected as well, since a major part of being certified Halal is in cleanliness, safe food preparation, and of course that the food is made with Halal ingredients. Fair play.

A bone to pick

We understand JAKIM’s reasoning about the word ‘dog’ being confusing for Muslim tourists. Malaysia is a major draw for many Muslim tourists from around the world because of the easy access to Halal food and mosques. It’s easy to be Muslim here. However, many tourists might not be as fluent in English as locals. So seeing the word ‘dog’ on a menu could be quite alarming.

But we don’t agree with JAKIM about regulating the words used on menu items in the first place. How is that relevant to the actual food being halal or not? Halal is about the ingredients used, methods of slaughtering, cleanliness, employing good work ethics and personal hygiene. The name of a dish is not, and should not be a factor.

If people are confused about hot dogs and beef bacon, it’s up to the individual restaurants to reassure their customers. Besides, being Halal certified already means you don’t serve pork or alcohol, so there’s no reason to worry. Those who still worry obviously need to up their English game or just avoid the store altogether.

Having said that, Auntie Anne’s probably brought this whole media frenzy on themselves. The third and latest revision of JAKIM’s guidelines for Halal Certification clearly states that “products which use the name or synonymous names with non-halal products or confusing terms such as ham, bak kut teh, bacon, beer, rum, hot dog, char siew and the like” will not be eligible.

Obviously, Auntie Anne’s application was rejected, since they didn’t meet all the conditions required. JAKIM was just doing their job based on the guidelines set out, however ridiculous.

Auntie Anne’s have agreed to change Pretzel Dogs to Pretzel Sausages now, so we can close the labrador on this issue.