Yogi govt bans sale of Halal-certified products

NT Bureau, Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday announced its decision to ban food products with a halal tag.

“A ban is imposed on the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of products,” the Food Commissioner’s office said in an order. Food items meant for export are exempt from the ban, it added.

Halal certification of food products is a parallel system that creates confusion regarding the quality of food items and is not tenable under Section 89 of the said Act, the order said.

The development comes after a police case was filed against a company and a few other organisations for allegedly “exploiting people’s religious sentiments” to boost sales by providing “forged” halal certificates.