Are online meatball restaurants in Indonesia committed to their declared Halal label?

Background And Aim: Halal restaurants participating in online food delivery services do not require halal certification. The Halal status of products through the Halal logo provides the consumer with information on the basis of which he decides to buy. Online transactions involve potential risks related to online processes, payment methods, and product quality. The aim of this study was to determine whether a declared Halal label is in accordance with the business processes implemented.

Materials And Methods: Halal authentication of Gofood's meatball partner products in Yogyakarta and Solo Raya determined the incompatibility of meatball ingredients. Sixty meatball samples were collected from Yogyakarta and 30 samples from Solo Raya. Halal certification test was carried out using the thermal cycle polymerase chain reaction method at Universitas Gadjah Mada Animal Husbandry Laboratory and the results were used to identify pork contamination in meatballs. The addition of pork or pork meatballs was used as a control.

Results: Eight meatball restaurants in the Solo Raya and Yogyakarta areas were found to be contaminated with pig DNA. The results of the tracing materials and processes, i.e., the grinding stage, are critical because all samples were supposed to be made from beef. It is known from interviews that contamination with pig DNA at the milling stage was accidental.

Conclusion: Restaurants that sell meatballs are committed to adhering to product labels that are 91.1% safe from pork contamination. The Halal and original beef labels were in accordance with their statements. This study highlights the concept of Halal authentication with traceability to overcome pork contamination in meat products.