In April of this year, the American company Mondelez that owns Toblerone reportedly decided to certify the world famous Swiss chocolate as halal. It became public only in December after an article in the Swiss newspaper Blick was published, sparking heated public debate.
"Islamisation does not take place — neither in Germany nor in Europe. It is therefore certainly pure coincidence that the depicted, known chocolate variety is now certified as ‘HALAL'", Jörg Meuthen, a Federal spokesman for the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) says in a Facebook post.
After the changes in the policy by the company that produces Toblerone were revealed, it was not only politicians who took note, but social media users as well. The latter started intense discussions on Twitter under the hashtag #BOYCOTTTOBLERONE.
While the majority of Twitter users were outraged by the decision of Toblerone's parent company, Mondelez…
…there were those, who saw nothing bad in the new certification rules.
Valérie Moens, a Mondelez spokesperson later explained that the halal certification doesn't imply that the product itself will change as Toblerone satisfied the halal-criterion before the official certification, according to the Huffington Post.
"That is why it's important to us to respond to the different preferences and food requirements of our broad range of consumers worldwide", the Huffington Post cites Valérie Moens as saying.
The translation of word "halal" is Arabic for "permissible", and is used by Muslims to verify whether the product satisfies various Islamic requirements. The halal certification procedure in turn reportedly implies that the products produced have to be approved by imams.
READ MORE: 'Not Halal Enough': Finland's Strict Slaughter Rules Roasted by Local Muslims
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