Rubbish…I am not saying that the food is ant different because it is HALAL certified. I am saying that I don’t want to contribute to the cost. All funds received for the certifications go to Islamic organizations or the people who control these certifiers(and there are many of those) even though the vast majority of the consumers don’t require it. I also question why the majority of the major companies in Australia, who pay this religious tax, dont label their goods showing that they do. Cadburys used to but now don’t. That, to me is an attempt to hoodwink the public. If you want to believe what you do, that’s fine.
I suggest that you read a post from Choice on Halal certification, as well as other posts in this thread.
It is as much a religious tax as other form of certification were licence fees are paid for the use of logos etc.
The Commonwealth Government website on certification is also worth reading…
It states “The funds raised from certification applications can be used for a variety of purposes beyond the payment of usual business expenses such as salaries, taxes and superannuation. This can include providing funds for a variety of charitable and community causes. The Committee noted, in a 2015 report on third party certification of food, that ‘evidence indicates that there is no direct link between Halal certification in Australia and terrorism funding”.
A person who is not Muslim does not pay for the certification. The increased market opportunities and profits raised through these extra market opportunities (that being those who buy Halal products) more than covers the costs of certification. If this was not the case, a business would not certify their products as it would impact on their bottom lines.
Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation broadcast by various groups in Australia. That is why reading information from reliable and independent sources, like Choice, is useful.
There are also 1000s of commonly bought products which have been halal certified, and may or may not have labelling indicating such. It is highly likely that everyone’s pantry contains some certified products. There are also websites which contain lists of products which are certified, but don’t know if they are up-to-date like this one:
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Well my point is the food is no different, the human impact is no different, leaving only the issue of cost.
And my suggestion regarding that is just shop based on price. If your issue is Halal increasing prices, then just pick the cheapest product you like. Because those that aren’t certified aren’t always better value. Additionally as mentioned above there are dozens of certifications and labels. Why single out Halal?
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My point is that, where I can, I will not support a company that pays money to organizations under the guise of religion. As I have stated, this contribution funds only Islamic organizations and to this I object when the bulk of the profits and, in turn, certification costs come from ALL their customers the majority of whom gain no benefit from these huge sums of money. Follow the money. Why should we be supporting these companies. I am sure they would do fine without being extorted like they are being. It is a rort. That is my belief and no matter how much anyone attempts to sway me, it wont change my mind. Perhaps you will look at the whole charade for what it is…a con.
It appears that we will agree to disagree.
Life is full of choices.
Some food companies selectively sponsor one sport over another.
Many companies favour male participation sport over female participation.
The cost of these arrangements are substantial and tied to massive ongoing advertising deals.
Some sports choose to extract massive fees from media to access their product. It’s not sport. It’s a massive business and a massive rort.
These costs in the millions are spread across thousands of everyday products at great expense to the consumer.
I dislike profitised corporatised sport that masquerades as a fake symbol of egalitarianism and freedom. It is anything other than free!
The spend is proportionate to the value and turn over.
The consumer foots the cost whether the individual supports a particular sport or code or gender based competition.
How many turn off adds promoting sports gambling or refuse to buy products that associate with horse racing or professional boxing or …?
There would appear to be many other more pressing issues in life than being concerned with whether a food product is certified gmo free or organic or halal. Each has a process to follow and each has a cost.
Products are not typically labelled with the sports they sponsor or political parties they donate to or in so many other ways.
To suggest a business cannot seek and agree to any form of endorsement with another business or group challenges all of these arrangements.
To suggest they cannot do so so on the basis of a belief or need, be it Vegan or nut allergy or religion or love of cricket is unacceptable.
I am not into heart foundation tick healthy eating options. I will buy what I need independent of the tick, which always comes with an added product cost. If you choose to eat unhealthy, it is your choice not mine.
I doubt any one needs to agree to disagree. We simply need to make our choices.
It is good that other Australians have available information they need to purchase products with confidence that the product meets their needs, what ever the preference.
All consumer products would be many times less expensive if we were to ban all promotion, paid advertising and sponsorship. Consider the quackery behind vitamin supplements from Swiss. They add much more to the cost of a product than any Halal certification every could.
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Not so much related to marketing tactics as much as appealing to those gullible enough to believe campaigns that bigots and conspiracy mongers of all sorts start and perpetrate, without doing (or believing) honest research.
I presume you steer clear of Kosher also? How about Christian certified? as @phb previously posted?
I don’t like supporting tax-free business such as religions, but at the same time I try not to shoot my own toes off to make a point so I just ignore the certifications whether they are there or not. They are nothing more than business decisions to appeal to certain markets, and in the absence of certain certifications it takes a product out of the respective market.
Slights of hand, magic, raw beliefs, understanding the meaning of life, whatever, seems to become religious dogmas to some, and that will not change.
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I stopped buying Cadbury products since they went Halal. I do not believe in forced funding of any religious body. There are other non-Halal options available.
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Technically any product you buy funds religious organisations at some level. Organisations like Catholic schools get money from your purchase through tax that is used to fund them.
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Hi @john.blakey, I have moved your post here as this existing thread is about product certification.
There are many myths on social media about what halal and its certification means. Some of these myths have been covered in the rest of this thread
As @Peterchu has indicated, it is not possible to do a weekly shop without ‘funding’ of a religious body in some way, either directly or indirectly. Also, buying a certified product doesn’t mean one is forced to or agrees with the underlying cause. It also doesn’t change the quality of the product, who gets the profits nor who owns the business. Certification is a marketing tool which generally adds no cost to a product, so it is not possible to substantiate an argument that one is funding a particular product through a purchase.
If a business say donated $1 for every product bought to a particular cause, then it may be possible to make such claims.
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There is no funding of any religion involved. Please read the posts at the head of this thread that go into the details.
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