Sweets and soup vanish as Pakistan aims for halal export boost

Fruity sweets and packets of chicken soup that fall foul of halal laws are disappearing from Pakistan's shop counters as the country looks to clean up its Islamic food credentials to boost exports to rich Gulf states.
At the start of the year the government published a list of around 20 imported food products it said were not halal, or permitted under Islamic law.
Shops in Pakistan, an Islamic republic where 97 per cent of the population are Muslims, already do not stock pork or alcohol - with a few extremely rare exceptions for foreigners and the small Christian minority.

Now the government wants to crack down further on products using alcohol and pork derivatives as ingredients.
So amongst other things, Pop-Tarts are off the shelves in many stores, along with imported jelly, sweets and several European brands of chicken soup.
They have been found to contain ingredients banned in Islam such as wine or gelatine derived from pork, or extracts from chickens not killed in accordance with Koranic doctrine.

There is so far no extra obligation on shopkeepers to pull products from the shelves, but some have decided to act.
"We heard about the new rules and decided not to take any chances," one Islamabad shopkeeper told AFP.

Other shopkeepers are putting up signs warning customers to check the ingredients of imported products carefully before buying.
Some are even quietly telling customers not to buy certain products over fears, sometimes misplaced, that they contain banned substances.
A draft law seen by AFP and due to be scrutinised by lawmakers in the coming months plans to sort out which products are halal and which are not, and set up an inspection service.
The aim is to create a Pakistani Halal Authority with the goal of boosting food and agricultural exports to wealthy Gulf states.
Zubair Mughal of Pakistan's Halal Research Council agreed, saying the country has the products and a strong Islamic reputation but needs better "halal branding".

"The top 10 exporters to the Middle Eastern market, the main halal market, they are not from Muslim countries," he said.
"Among the top 10 there is no Muslim country," he added, noting that Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, France, India and Thailand are all among the top exporters.