Sadia S.A. is a major Brazilian food producer that has been a subsidiary of BRF S.A. since 2009. It is among the world’s leading producers of frozen foods, and is Brazil’s main exporter of meat-based products.
For Muslims in Hong Kong, it has provided with a dilemma of whether to consume the halal certified products from the organisation or not. Below are pointers to keep in mind:
- Sadia is a Portuguese word meaning “healthy” so we shouldn’t assume it as an Arabic word.
- Sadia is a Brazilian organization engaging in (world’s largest) exports of frozen meat worldwide.
- Sadia supply of meats and other frozen produces are very popular in the Middle East i.e. amongst Arab Muslims too.
- The Halal Certifications are carried-out by local Muslim organization similiar to meat from Australia and New Zealand.
- Sadia employ Muslims to perform the slaughter and packagings for all halal process.
- Cross-contamination is highly unlikely since abbattoirs are a seperate entities for slaughter, packaging and etc., away from swine factories.
So what to do, are we as Muslims to consume or not to consume meat from Sadia supplies? A scholarly views are as follows:
- If a Muslim has no options to purchase Halal certified meat (at his or her place of residence) but to dine for Sadia then it’s permissible.
- If there are options apart from Sadia supplies then it’s recommended to choose what is a better choice than Sadia.
- A Muslim is not adviced to enforce upon a fellow Muslim(s) if he or she chooses to consume Sadia as it is certified Halal by Muslims at the destination of slaughter.
So as long as the product has halal certified logo on the Sadia packaging then that should be enough in shā Allāh. And Allāh knows best.