Secret Recipe blames upgrading of central kitchen for loss of halal cert Secret Recipe posted an apology on its Facebook page and its outlets after its halal certificate was revoked on May 7.
Facebook screenshot, May 26, 2015.
Home-grown cafe chain Secret Recipe has attributed the loss of its halal status to upgrading work being done at its central kitchen. Secret Recipe Manufacturing Sdn Bhd chief executive Datuk Steven Sim said it respected the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia’s (Jakim) decision and was working to comply with Jakim’s cleanliness standards. "Our central kitchen was doing upgrading works which unfortunately, lead to some cleanliness issues. Nevertheless, we have completed all rectification works and are ready for Jakim's next inspection any time now," said Sim in an email to The Malaysian Insider today. He also apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused and said that a notice had been posted on its Facebook page and its outlets on the issue. "Our company was awarded halal certification for the past 15 years and we assure that all our products, system and processes are in compliance with the halal certification standard," he said in the email. Jakim revoked Secret Recipe's Halal certificate on May 7 after it was found to have breached the halal certification procedure on cleanliness and good manufacturing practices. Jakim Halal Hub division director Hakimah Mohd Yusoff said today the revocation had nothing to do with non-halal ingredients in its products. Hakimah said that Jakim will evaluate the company's halal certificate application after it had conducted checks based on the Malaysia Standard 1500:2009 and Halal Manual Procedure Certification 2014.
