CORRELATES OF ḤALĀL FOOD AMONG MUSLIM CONSUMERS, FOOD SERVICE PROVIDERS AND HEALTH WORKERS IN THE SOUTH WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ḥalāl food is food that is in conformity with the Sharī‘ah dictates. However, in the South West, Nigeria, a number of foods patronised by Muslims are largely produced and supervised in the context of Codex Alimentarius without consideration for ḥalāl food requirements, an obligation for Muslims. Existing studies on mu‘āmalah (social obligation) dwelt extensively on food processing with little attention paid to ḥalāl food. This study was, therefore, designed to examine correlates of ḥalāl food [Awareness of Ḥalāl Food (AHF), Knowledge of Ḥalāl Food (KHF), Perception of Ḥalāl Food (PHF), Attitude Towards Ḥalāl Food (ATHF), Subjective Norms (SN); Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC), Behavioural Intention (BI), Religiousity (REL.), Perception of Ḥalāl Certification (PHC) and Perception of Ḥalāl Logistics (PHL) and Ḥalāl Terms (HT) ] among Muslim consumers, food service providers and experienced health workers. This was with a view to determining whether foods are produced and managed in compliance with Islamic dietary law.

Theory of Planned Behaviour and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points were adopted as the framework. The mixed methods of QUAN+qual design was used. The convenient sampling was used to administer a questionnaire to Muslim consumers across the states (Ekiti-353, Lagos-361, Ogun-399, Ondo-367, Osun-372 and Oyo-371). The purposive sampling technique was used to select 525 experienced health workers (Ekiti-83, Lagos-89, Ogun-84, Ondo-94, Osun-85 and Oyo-90). Purposive sampling was also used to select 290 volunteered primary food service providers (Ekiti-49, Lagos-44, Ogun-49, Ondo-49, Osun-50 and Oyo-49) and 175 workers in licensed processed food industry (Ekiti-30, Lagos-31, Ogun-31, Ondo-29, Osun-29 and Oyo-25) based on their involvement in food value production. The instruments used were AHF(r=0.84), KHF(r=0.88), PHF(r=0.91), ATHF(r=0.92), SN(r=0.93), PBC(r=0.86), BI(r=0.93), REL(r=0.94), PHC(r=0.92), PHL(r=0.85) and HT(r=0.93) questionnaires. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight personnel of ḥalāl certification bodies for Muslim food consumption, while focus group discussions were held with six personnel each from health, primary and processed food workers. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance, while qualitative data were content-analysed.

The AHF(r=0.56), KHF(r=0.57), ATHF(r=0.60), SN(r=0.48), PBC (r=0.42), BI(r=0.63), REL(r=0.45), PHC(r=0.54) and PHL(r=0.52) had positive significant relationships with ḥalāl food for Muslim consumption. The independent variables jointly predicted ḥalāl food for Muslim consumption (F(9;2223=280.32; Adj. R2=0.53), accounting for 53.0% of its variance. The AHF(ꞵ=0.22), KHF(ꞵ=0.10), ATHF(ꞵ=0.12), BI(ꞵ=0.36) and REL(ꞵ=0.042) had relative contribution to ḥalāl food for Muslim consumption, while others did not. Most of the certified food companies had no internal ḥalāl food specialists. The health workers were not aware of Islamic provisions, such as avoidance of slaughtering animal in the presence of other animals and single swift slit. The food workers predominantly understood the sharī‘ah-compliant and non-sharī‘ah compliant foods, such as khinzīr (pork) and maytatah (carrion).

Awareness of Ḥalāl Food, Religiousity, Knowledge of Ḥalāl Food, Behavioural Intention, Perception of Ḥalāl Certification and Attitude Towards Ḥalāl Food contributed to ḥalāl foods for Muslim consumption in the South West, Nigeria. Establishment of government ḥalāl certification agencies is a potential influencer towards consumption of ḥalāl foods.