Blockchain for Verifying Digital Halal Certification: Enhance Trust and Traceability in Food Products

Halal food is essential to the Islamic religion. All people in Islamic countries consume only halal food. There are people outside Islamic countries who also consume halal foods. However, people are unsure whether food producers will adhere to the Islamic slaughter laws and processes, which harms society. Foodborne illnesses can have a devastating impact on a food producer, and subsequent exposure can be detrimental. This paper proposes mitigating risk by utilizing blockchain technology for digital halal certification. Each step of the halal certification process - from slaughtering to processing, packing, and finally distribution - is compiled as a block of information, including product details and halal certification, and securely linked to the certificate of product quality from the previous step. This would provide a tamper-evident, auditable chain of trust for consumers, certification bodies, and partners in the supply chain to verify the halal status of products in real-time. The proposed framework suggests utilizing blockchain to enhance assurance and trust in the halal certification process, while reducing the need for human verification. It maintains all halal certification processes transparently linked to the blockchain, significantly minimizing the risk of fraud.