World - February 08 (The Weekly Vice) -- Muslims are outraged at Doritos brand tortilla chips. Will they declare Jihad? At minimum, they'll boycott it.
Muslims are criticizing the manufacturer of Doritos, after it has come to light that a couple of it's varieties contain minute chemical traces of alcohol as a means of extracting more flavor from the chip. The consumption of alcohol is forbidden in Islam, which includes the use of alcohol in cooking.
The issue originated when a Muslim shopkeeper who says that a customer informed him of the
"A customer informed us that Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli and Doritos Chilli Heat Wave are not on Walkers' alcohol-free list. Our suppliers were unaware of this," explained Besharat Rehman, the shopkeeper. "Even if it is a trace amount of alcohol, Walkers should make it clear on the packaging so that the customer can make an informed choice. I feel frustrated and angry," he also added.
Rehman isn't alone in his outrage, as even a chairman of the the Muslim Council of Britain lambasted Doritos. "Certainly we would find it very offensive to have eaten food with alcohol," said Shuja Shafi who chairs the committee.
Masood Khawaja of the Halal Food Authority also criticized saying, "They should have looked into the matter and solved it instead of hiding behind labelling regulations. It does not matter what percentage of alcohol is involved."
Doritos Fires Back
A Walkers spokesperson disputed the attack saying that trace amounts of alcohol in crisps or bread are believed to be permissible for Muslims.
"We do not add alcohol to our products. However, ethyl alcohol may be present in trace amounts in a very small number of our flavors.
"It is used as a carrying agent for flavorings and is found in many common food and drink products. Foods like bread can also contain the same or higher trace amounts due to fermentation. We are aware of the concerns from some Muslim consumers about the appropriateness of specific ingredients. We take the concerns of our consumers extremely seriously."
"In previous assessments by Muslim scholars, foods and drinks that contain trace amounts of ethyl alcohol have been confirmed as permissible for Muslim consumption because of both the fact that the ingredient does not bear its original qualities and does not change the taste, colour or smell of the product, and its very low level."
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
It's getting pretty pathetic when you must first become an expert on every religion on the planet, before you put a product on the market. Many are calling for a COMPLETE list of every chemical compound that exists in a product, but that is truly impossible.
One single ingredient could be broken down into dozens of other ingredients or chemical compounds. Water, a common ingredient in almost everything can be broken down into compounds. Most water is treated with chemicals like chlorine. There's another dozen chemical compounds for you. Do you really want to know every single chemical trace that exists in the oil used to cook everything? Are you willing to pay extra for the packaging that would be required to accomodate the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of potential trace elements in every single product?
Hopefully Doritos will just add the products to their "not alcohol free" list and be done with it. But the mere existence of such a list, is already an indication that the company is striving to provide culturally relevant information about it's products.
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
Click COMMENTS to share your opinion
Posts
1 comments:
As a Muslim, I won't eat anything which is not certifiably 'halal' or permissible, or at least I would make an effort to contact food manufacturers to ask them whether their products contain elements which I cannot take.
Doritos makes no claim to be 'halal' - therefore I don't expect Doritos to be absolutely free from non-halal ingredients.
Muslims who eat Doritos without first checking the ingredients used in its products are to be blamed. To be angry or indignant after the fact is unfair to Doritos and certainly unbecoming of proper Muslim behaviour.
I agree that food manufacturers cannot be expected to list down all the ingredients used in their products. Therefore individuals who have certain dietary regulations to follow - such as Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, vegetarians - have to make an effort to ascertain that the foods they are going to partake do not violate those regulations.
Therefore, I agree with you, Danny.
Having said that, I equally take issue with the way you've chosen to portray the issue.
I think if the issue has been something of a Jewish concern, theWeeklyVice would have treated it with a little more respect.
Angry Muslims Attack Doritos - Jihad ?
Really ? Even the title smacked of something offensive. It is as if Muslims behave like that as a unit the world over.
As I've said, I disagree with the Muslims in this issue. And I think they are plenty of Muslims in Britain who also disagree with them, and I think it's unfair for you to portray this issue as something representative of Muslims.
Firham
Post a Comment
****Please Read Before Posting****
The fastest way to post is to type your comment, click "NAME", enter any screen name you wish, and then click "PUBLISH".
Anonymous posts are discouraged, because it makes a conversation difficult to follow. No one can tell who's talking to who. Be somebody. Pick a name - any name. This way your fellow bloggers know who you are when you return to comment again. Thank you!