'Not due to public pressure': Major cereal brands pull halal certification
After months of mounting criticism, some of Australia’s largest cereal makers have quietly stopped paying halal certification fees.
Kellogg’s and Sanitarium no longer pay to have their products certified by an Islamic business to indicate that a food is approved for consumption under Islamic religious rules.
Kellogg’s has now denied it changed its halal policies and removed the branding from Corn Flakes and Special K, as a result of public pressure.
“They’re inherently halal, so we chose not to renew our certification in 2016 as part of a regular review of all certifications for our foods,” a spokesman told the Daily Mail.
“This was a commercial decision, not the result of any public pressure or backlash.”
Meanwhile Sanitarium said it had never needed to use halal or kosher certification symbols for their Australian or New Zealand products, saying it had only paid the fees to export their products to 35 other nations.
Earlier this year, One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson urged Australians to stop buying halal-certified products, which she said were “financially supporting the Islamisation of Australia”.
“One of the biggest complaints I have had since being elected is about halal-certification and it was my promise to you that I would do something about it,” Senator Hanson said in a video released in the lead up to Easter.
Sunrise guest Prue MacSween said she didn’t think Australia’s meat manufacturers would follow suit any time soon.
“I don’t think the companies that are part of the 8.5 billion export market, the meat market for example, will do that because Australian manufactures and producers need that export market.
Certainly there are huge concerns about where that money is going and the tax that is imposing on the consumer.
“Those like Sanitarium who aren’t affected by it are smart to do it [remove halal certification].
