Hot dog hullabaloo - getting to the meat of halal certification

KINIGUIDE Among the many things which have occurred this week, the furore surrounding the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia’s (Jakim) request that pretzel franchise Auntie Anne’s changes the name of its food item ‘Pretzel Dog’ to ‘Pretzel Sausage’ was one of them.

This is in line with Jakim’s guidelines which bar the use of names similar to non-halal products such as ham, bacon, beer, rum, hot dog and ‘char siew’.

Many have criticised the move as the name 'hot dog' has been used for many years and is simply synonymous with the food item - cooked sausage served in a sliced bun.