Islamabad: Many imported food items being sold in Pakistani markets contain ingredients which are haram, a senior government official told a committee of the National Assembly.
A list of 19 such items, mostly chicken products — imported from various countries including the UK and US — was provided to the committee on Monday by the official of the ministry of science and technology.
According to reports in the local media, additional secretary of the ministry, Mian Ijaz told the parliamentary panel that the ministry had no mandate to stop the sale of such products.
The items, according to the ministry’s findings, contained ingredients like wine, gelatin and animal-based food colour.
The official said that a draft bill seeking establishment of a proper authority to stop sale of food items containing haram ingredients has been prepared for prevention to the parliament after approval by the cabinet.
Some of the food items containing chicken have been included on the list due to doubts about the slaughtering mechanism “since stunning is prohibited in Islam.” Some other products have been placed on the list due to lack of proper source of traceability to ascertain the halal/haram status.
The committee wa told that food was currently the responsibility of provincial governments and they had to evolve a foolproof mechanism to check sale of any ‘haram’ products.
Federal Commerce Minister Ghulam Dastgir Khan, commenting on the reports, said Tuesday that embassies of some of the concerned countries have contacted the government to allay the apprehensions.
The missions informed that certification regarding the food items imported from their countries could be provided to remove any misgivings, the minister said.
