McDonald’s says its beef sourced directly from halal abattoirs

Popular fast food franchise McDonald’s has assured that its beef products are sourced from abattoirs abroad which are certified halal by Jakim, in the wake of the recent revelation that a meat cartel had been repackaging imported meat by using the halal logo.

The company said its raw beef was purchased directly from halal-certified abattoirs in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil by MacFood Services without going through any third party distributor.

It said the abattoirs were also compliant with animal welfare and food safety programmes before they could qualify as approved suppliers for McDonald’s.

“Since 2017, MacFood Services had been accepted and placed under Jakim’s whitelist, which is a recognition of MacFood Services’ compliance with Jakim’s halal requirements,” said a statement issued by the popular burger franchise in response to queries from MalaysiaNow.

It added that MacFood Services meets requirements of several global standards including its inhouse food safety tool, Supplier Quality Management System.

“These audits are inclusive of traceability and food fraud, which will review raw material used and compliance.”

Jakim, or the Department of Islamic Development, is legally authorised to certify products as halal.

It recently said it would issue a list of licensed meat importers in the country, following public outrage over the meat-fraud scandal.

It was claimed that imported non-certified meat had been mixed with non-halal meat, bypassing checks and costs involved in the halal certification process, before being sold on the domestic market.