Pizza is a type of round, flat bread baked in the oven and usually covered in tomato sauce and cheese with other additional ingredients of choice. The cheese used is usually mozzarella or “pizza https://www.nypdpizzas.com/ cheese”. Where is the critical point of haram?
As summarized by HalalMUI, pizza was first known in Italy as an offering for the queen. Then throughout history, pizza was known in various parts of the world. This caused the adjustment of the taste and variants of pizza according to the characteristics of each region. Now, the pizza that is eaten does not only offer a salty or sour sensation, but also pizza with a sweet taste.
Some time ago, there was an issue of using expired ingredients in one of the pizza franchise products in Indonesia. However, the issue was denied. The management assured that it would not risk the health of consumers for the sake of abundant profits, because it is a prohibited practice. The company always maintains the established international safety standards.
Well, to find out what ingredients are used, how the process is, and where the critical point of haram is, here is HalalMUI’s review of pizza. Broadly speaking, making pizza is divided into three main elements, namely bread, cheese, and toppings .
Culinary practitioner, Tizza Maulidza said, the main ingredient in making pizza is bread, where to make bread requires basic ingredients including flour, milk, sugar, chicken eggs, and instant yeast. While to make toppings requires onions, meat, sausage, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, chicken eggs, spring onions, cheese, tomato sauce, and sauce. “The thing to note is the critical point of the haram of these ingredients. This is what makes the pizza we make can be guaranteed halal or not,” said Tizza.
The ingredients for making pizza and their critical points of haram include:
Wheat
In terms of halalness, wheat flour raw materials are not a problem. However, the use of several materials in the fortification process or those aimed at improving the functional properties of wheat flour needs to be criticized for their halalness. For example, vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is a microbial product where the growth media must be ensured to be free from haram and unclean materials.
Another example is L-cysteine (usually in its hydrochloride form) whose origin needs to be known to ensure its halalness. Cheap L-cysteine that is widely available on the market is L-cysteine made from human hair. Of course, because it comes from human body parts, this L-cysteine is haram, so wheat flour that uses L-cysteine from human hair is haram for Muslims. If L-cysteine comes from animal fur, it needs to be ensured that it comes from halal animals and is slaughtered in a manner that is in accordance with Islamic sharia. And if the L-cysteine is a microbial product, then the composition of the halal media becomes important to criticize.
Milk
One thing to note, most of the milk on the market today is processed. This means that the milk has undergone a processing process involving additional ingredients and process aids.
Sugar
Granulated sugar is made from sugar cane or beet. Because it comes from plants, of course the main raw material for granulated sugar is halal. The process of making granulated sugar consists of several stages, starting from the extraction process, clarification, evaporation, crystallization, to drying. In these stages of the process, the possibility of using auxiliary materials such as enzymes and activated charcoal whose sources can come from haram materials can contaminate granulated sugar.
Yeast
Yeast is widely used in bakery products as a bread improver . Yeast is a microbial product so the halal composition of the production media and auxiliary materials involved in the process must be criticized. Sometimes there is also yeast made from beer industry by-products .
Cheese
Cheese is one of the favorite processed foods derived from animal milk, such as: cow’s milk, goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, and camel’s milk. Although derived from milk, the manufacturing process involves various ingredients that can make this dairy product non-halal.
Cheese is made through various process stages, starting from the process of adding starter bacteria, adding protein coagulating enzymes, forming curd, molding and pressing, adding salt, and storage (ripening).
Protein digesting enzymes (proteases) are important for curdling cheese and separating it from whey. The enzymes used in cheese making are varied, such as: rennet enzyme, pepsin, renin (chemosin), renylase, etc.
The rennet enzyme used can come from fermentation ( microbial rennet ) or from the stomach of a calf. If it comes from microbial fermentation, it must be ensured that the media used for the growth of the microbes does not contain prohibited materials. If it comes from the stomach of a calf, then of course the slaughtering method determines its halalness. If other enzymes are used, then the source is also a critical point of its halalness.
Furthermore, the starter used in making cheese is a microbe where the media used to grow it can come from halal or haram materials.
Meat
The meat used must be known from its source whether it comes from a halal or haram animal. If the meat comes from a halal animal, then it must also be slaughtered according to Islamic law.
Sausage
Sausages are usually of two types. The first is ready-to-eat sausage that can be consumed directly and there is also a raw sausage product wrapped in a very thin sausage casing. Sausage casings that can be eaten directly are made of collagen made from animal skin. While inedible casings are made from cellulose. The halal status of sausages used as pizza toppings is determined by whether or not the animal meat used is halal, whether or not the slaughtering process is in accordance with sharia, the halalness of the mixed ingredients, and the casings used.
Sauce
Pizza restaurants usually have various types of sauces. In general, the sauces used are made from plant-based ingredients such as chili and tomatoes. However, its halalness must still be criticized because many spices and food additives are used in its manufacture.
Given the number of critical ingredients in making pizza, it is best to use ingredients that are already certified HalalMUI. Or if you are going to consume ready-to-eat pizza, then choose a restaurant that is already certified by MUI. ***
HalaMUI also summarizes several countries that have their own pizza characteristics. Here are some of them.