Hot! Stem Cell Technology products

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

In these two days, I was asked to read on an issue which I didn't really pay attention before. It is an issue regarding the authenticity and availability of Halal certification on one of stem cell based product in Malaysia. After being asked to read, then I start to wonder what is actually happening. The issue seems to be more critical. It became an issue when the company actually put one of unauthorized Halal logo on the packaging of its products. As what I have discussed in my previous post (Halal logo), there is only one Halal logo which is accepted and to be trusted in Malaysia, which is Malaysia Halal logo. However, I was not about to comment on the argument from the member of the company since the prove and explanation given by the authority is clear enough for us to understand. Which one does the consumer choose to do: either to continue consuming or changing to other products that we are confident with. 

Rather than focusing on the Halal logo issue, I am more curious whether it is important to choose Halal certified stem-cell based product or not. Before that, let us briefly go through about stem cell. We may have heard the name before or some may use stem cell product before but doesn't really know what they are.

Stem cell refers to young cells which are capable of self-renewal and it have potential to differentiate into different specific cells. (specific cells are such as muscle cell, skin cell or any other kind of cells on human body, plant or animal). Due to this property, stem cell can be like a repair system that replaced the died or lost cell with the cell newly divided. Stem cell technology is now a rapid developing technology which also used to cure malignant or non-malignant diseases. And now people had gone further into developing product which can be consume by any people as health supplement that can improve our health and used for gaining beauty.

(Example of culture: Not a stem cell culture...only a leaf culture...)

There are two things involved in stem cell technology: Ethical and Halal issue. Both issues relates with the origin of the stem cells. There are two aspects that we should look into which are, in light of medical purposes and in light of product creation.

In medical practices:

• There are two types of stem cell; adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.
• Adult stem cells can be obtain from adult tissues with little harmful effect on the individual taken from.
• On the other hand, embryonic stem cells are obtained from multi-cellular embryos which being cultured in the laboratory.
• Ethical issue and Halal issue involves in usage of human embryo until some stages of the embryo. In Islamic perspective, it is permissible to use embryonic stem cell technology to cure human disease as long as the embryo that taken has not reach stage of blastocyst. This is because at the stage of blastocyst is when the embryo had attached to the mother's womb and still has no sensory. (Source from e-fatwa, Malaysia)

Stem cell as product:

• When we are referring to products, it may be edible or it may only needed to be applied without penetrating to our body.
• Stem cell product, as far as what I have read, it is sold in forms of sachet that needed to be eaten by the user. 
• Thus, it is must that we need to consider to check on the availability of Halal logo or not. 
• What are the things that need to be consider?
• Origin of the stem cell : plant / human / animal
• Type of media that used (stem cell need to be cultured (grow) in order to expand the volume): there are type of chemicals and additives that may come from non-Halal source.
• For products, it is easy for us to scan through whether it is based on which origin. However, we wouldn't know what type of media that they are using to culture the stem cell.

Hoping that other can gain benefit from this post...=) 

and hoping that 'the issue' will solve in proper manner...

Dearest consumer, let's play our role!

That's all for now

Wallahualam

yummy...attractive...long shelf life food?

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

Food...a very broad topic and a lot to discuss on...focus..focus...focus...that is all what I need to do in order to decide on what topic should I discuss and revise. Let us ask ourselves, what is the criteria that we will consider when we want to choose any food product that we want? Is it because of the attractiveness of the packaging? The taste of the food? The long shelf life of the food? Well, there is actually pros and cons on what we are considering. Why? because the all this criteria leads to one term name food additives. =)

In food industry, food additives may presence in different terms depending on the role that it takes. Let us look into the definition given by Malaysia Food Act and Regulation (1983). =) This is what I understand: 

Food additives are referring to any substance that is safe to be consume that is intentionally included inside or onto food in small quantity that can give effect on its storage quality, texture, consistency, appearance, smell, taste, basic or acidic of the food. The by-product of the food additives become part of the food or become the agent that changes the food properties. 

As I was saying, food additives may exist in few terms such as:

preservatives, colourant, flavor enhancer, anti-oxidant

History of food additives had started way before my birth or even my parent or grandparents. For instance, usage of spices, natural colorant such as tumeric and sugar as sweetener which contribute to the sweet taste of the food. Maybe I should dig a bit more about history of food additives and share. Insya-Allah (With God's willing)... As for now, here are some examples of food additives:

Types of food additives	Example
Preservative	Honey Salt Sodium benzoate Propyl gallate
Colorant	Tumeric Cochineal Amaranth Sunset Yellow
Flavor enhancer	Sugar Spices Monosodium glutamate Vinegar
Anti-oxidant	Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) Tetrabutylated Hydroxyquinone (TBHQ)

Discussion on food additives relates to food safety issues as well as Halal issue. 

Food safety aspect:

•  Food additives can be divided into two which are natural food additives and synthetic food additives.  
• Natural food additives can be obtained naturally such as spices for flavor enhancer, papaya leaves which can be use as meat tenderizer and stevia leaves as sweetener. 
• On the other hand, synthetic food additives are originated from chemical based such as Butylated Hydroxy-Anisole (BHA) as anti-oxidant, saccharin as artificial sweetener and Ponceau 4-R as red colorant. 
• Food safety issue usually deals with synthetic food additives, since chemical based materials may give unexpected side-effect to our health if consumed in excessive amount and in long run.
• Food with large quantity of food additives are against food law as well as can become harmful to our health. 
• However, consumers are more aware and currently issuing food safety concern regarding on food additives. As for that, industries player are also trying their best to capture the eyes of consumer by taking care of the amount of food additive such as what we can see in the picture below:

(Good job!)

Halal aspect:

Halal aspect of food additives focused on the source of the food additives. Halal status of the whole product is affected even with trace amount of food additives which are originated from non-Halal source. Example of non-Halal source in Islam is such as porcine or any of its derivatives. Food additives that may originated from non-Halal source is such as gelatin. Another example of doubtful food additives are Monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is a very popular flavor enhancer. There will Halal issue if it is originated from bacterial fermentation. MSG produced from bacterial fermentation which are using culture media that contains non-Halal material such as blood or any substance originated from porcine becomes non-Halal. 

Let have some knowledge on what is inside our food. That's all for now...=)

Wallahualam

Halal logo?

 In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

Some might be wondering what is Halal logo as what I have stated in my previous posting on baozi...

Halal logo is a symbol which given to manufacturers that applied for Halal certification and have been ensure its compliance by the authorities. In Malaysia, Halal logo is can only be issued by Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) with only one single design of logo. It can exist in any colors that the manufacturer wish to have as long as they use the same design as attached below.

But be careful dearest consumer especially Malaysian... there are a lot of fake Halal logo which can be misunderstood as the real one. Below are few examples that are commonly found in the market even nowadays...

Now, let's learn how to identify the real Malaysia Halal logo...=D

But take note that Halal logo is not only can be from Malaysian Government. Other countries also have their own Halal logo. Products which originated from other country can maintain their own Halal logo. These countries can be acceptable since there are certified by JAKIM. Below are few examples of common Halal logo from other countries. Other Halal logo that are certified in Malaysia can be review from JAKIM's Certified Body list.

 

(CHINA)

(INDONESIA)

(SINGAPORE)

(THAILAND)

That's all for now...

Wallahualam