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What does halal food mean? What is the difference between halal food and non halal food

Sihaiwang: now many ethnic groups in China maintain the custom of eating halal food. Now halal restaurants can be seen everywhere in the street, so what is halal food? What are the differences between halal food and ordinary food.

1、 Basic concepts

In China, 10 ethnic minorities such as Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Dongxiang, Kirgiz, Sala, Tajik, Uzbek, Baoan and Tatar generally have halal eating habits. This eating custom originated from Islam, but with the development of the times, it has gradually become an integral part of the lifestyle and eating habits of these ethnic minorities. Halal food refers to the food containing animal meat and its derivatives produced and managed according to the customs of these ethnic minorities. According to the customs of these ethnic minorities, halal food does not contain taboos such as self dead objects, blood and pork.

Due to China's vast territory, there are great differences in geography, climate and living environment in different regions, and the scope and standards of halal food are different, showing strong regional characteristics. However, it is clear that foods that do not contain meat, animal fat and milk should not belong to halal foods, such as vegetables, fruits, water, salt, etc., nor should they be labeled with the word "halal" or carry out production and business activities in the name of halal food.

2、 Historical development

As an ancient Chinese word, the word "halal" was not directly related to Islam at first. As early as the northern and Southern Dynasties, in Shi Shuo Xin Yu written by Liu Yiqing, there was the sentence "halal fasting desire, all things cannot be moved", which means pure and simple, dust-free and pollution-free. Poets Li Bai and Meng Haoran of the Tang Dynasty and poets Lu You and Xin Qiji of the Song Dynasty have used the word many times in their poems and prose, generally referring to the moral standard of being a man or noble and elegant. After the mid Ming Dynasty, Chinese Islamic scholars referred to Islam as "quiet and uncontaminated", and gradually used the word "halal" in the field of Islam in China. Up to now, except for the special words such as "halal religion", "mosque" and "halal words", in China, the word "halal" is used alone, usually referring to the halal diet that has been transformed into relevant national customs. It is generally not used as a qualifier, nor is it equivalent to the foreign Islamic "halal" (i.e. "in line with the Islamic Sharia law).

3、 Standardized management

Since the founding of new China, the party and the state have implemented a policy of respecting and protecting the customs and habits of all ethnic groups, and effectively guaranteed the relevant legitimate rights of the people of all ethnic groups. On the one hand, the state insists on standardizing and managing halal food production and operation activities from the perspective of national customs and habits, so as to put an end to the phenomenon of "unclear halal food"; On the other hand, it is also clearly prohibited to generalize the concept of "halal" to areas other than food, so as to prevent the formulation and practice of promoting "halal industry" and "halal industry" in the name of expanding exports or other economic development. It is not allowed to interfere in people's life, undermine market order and damage national unity in the name of "halal".

In China, all enterprises and individuals should carry out halal food production and operation activities in accordance with laws and regulations. At present, local regulations or government regulations on halal food management have been formulated in China. Some places have special provisions on the production and operation of halal food in other local regulations, which provides a guarantee for further standardizing the production and operation of halal food and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of people with halal eating habits.