Halal certification can improve a company’s product quality; a case study presented by a participant proved the point

Lina Ramadan, Technical Manager of FAMBRAS Halal’s Industrial Sector, had a clear goal for the paper presented at CTec Halal: to demonstrate how Halal certification has a positive impact on certified companies.

To support her thesis, she used an açaí industry as an example. Her paper, “The Relationship Between Halal Auditing and Food Safety in an Açaí Industry,” was developed as part of the MBA in Project Management she completed at USP/Esalq.

Lina, what led you to choose this topic for your paper? What were you hoping to achieve with it?

This was the subject of my capstone project for the MBA in Project Management at USP/Esalq. I felt it was important to show Halal beyond theory—in other words, how it has a direct and indirect impact within certified companies. The goal was to present a real-world case as evidence to encourage companies to seek Halal certification and promote research in the field.

You demonstrated the impact on product quality after implementing the action plan developed to address the nonconformities identified during the external Halal audit. Could you briefly explain what an external Halal audit is?

The external audit mentioned in the paper is the assessment conducted by the FAMBRAS Halal certifier. Its purpose is to verify whether a company is capable of manufacturing Halal products. The process includes a document review, followed by a comprehensive on-site check for compliance with Halal requirements. This includes reviewing product composition for Halal raw materials and additives (lytic), as well as Good Manufacturing Practices and other requirements that ensure consumers receive a quality product.

Can you specify what the nonconformities were, or at least some of them?

One of the non-conformities involved failure to comply with raw material segregation requirements. Halal-certified industries must have a storage method in place to prevent cross-contamination with other raw materials, ingredients, or additives that have not been assessed for Halal status. In this case, the company provided identification signs labeled “Halal”.

Another finding was the lack of a Critical Control Point in the process. To resolve this non-conformity, the client purchased a metal detector for use at the end of the process, which safely rejects contaminated products from the production line.

From there, the action plan was developed. Was there a deadline for completing it? Did you monitor the process?

The deadline for responding to nonconformities is 15 days. Since some corrective actions would require more time to complete and submit records, such as purchasing equipment, progress was monitored in stages through interviews and on-site audits.

How has Halal certification benefited this industry?

There were several benefits: certification has helped build credibility in meetings with prospective clients; changes to the product composition made it more appealing to customers; there was a significant decrease in non-conformities identified in three audits conducted over a 12-month period by the certifier and, as I mentioned, a CCP (critical control point) was introduced into the production process. In addition, the effectiveness of monitoring was assessed after monitoring became more frequent with the hiring of a new team; packaging inspection procedures were improved, and employees seemed more motivated by the innovations.

Based on your experience, do all companies seeking Halal certification end up gaining something more, as in the case study you presented?

Absolutely. We have received a lot of positive feedback from clients who report increased sales, fewer complaints after implementing the procedures required for Halal certification, and improved employee training.

What is your assessment of CTec Halal?

CTec Halal was a very interesting initiative, and I hope it really becomes a regular event. Papers on a range of timely topics were presented, enriching knowledge and helping to spread awareness of Halal in particular.

Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t asked?

I would just like to reiterate that companies seeking Halal certification increase their competitive potential, as it is a quality seal that lends greater credibility to the process.