HALAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES, ( HDIP )
Halal Development Institute of the Philippines is one of the Leading Halal Certifying Bodies in the Philippines, HDIP a member of the WORLD HALAL FOOD COUNCIL.
A food is
adulterated if it omits a valuable constituent or substitutes another
substance, in whole or in part, for a valuable constituent (for instance, olive
oil diluted with tea tree oil); conceals damage or inferiority in any manner
(such as fresh fruit with food coloring on its surface to conceal defects); or
any substance has been added to it or packed with it to increase its bulk or
weight, reduce its quality or strength, or make it appear bigger or of greater
value than it is (for example:)
-Scallops to which water has been added
to make them heavier.
-A 70% ground beef was mixed with 30% /
ground pork and the vendors declared it beef.
One of the
unsafe product nowadays is oil, most cooking oil now are recycled -meaning, used oil are refined, repacked labeled
as commercial oil, this is due to the advancement of technology. Same to an
ugly person ,they can make him or her beautiful faces because of technology,
this might be true that food manufacturers of food chain are using that kind of
oil.
Some chain
of restaurantshave to fry their food
using an oil supplied by thier suppliers. But unknowingly these suppliers using
USED OIL COLLECTED FROM HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS. Refined and recycled this item
as source of their raw material for manufacturing oil, recycled oil have been
sold in the local market, (bote bote lang) without label, business is business,
for as long as those businessmen can sale and get benefit out of this type of
product , they don’t care...who are their target market and victim, Halal
consumers ordinary households should aware of these products in the market.
Halal Development Institute of the Philippines, a member of the WHFC
Certifying a certain product HALAL is not just as easy as getting a piece of
paper from RECTO Avenue or corridors of the streets in Quiapo, once you start a
wrong ingredients the result will be a wrong products. Every single ingredient from
raw materials, additives, processing aid has to be halal
certified. The food MUST not contaminated contain nor any ingredients that are
considered Haram. Due to advancement of technology today, a typical Muslim
cannot do this alone; it needs technical and management aspects. Proper
education and training to make Halal workers including
auditors more competent/effective verifier is very significant to say and
declare a products are 100% Halal. Workers and business owners, auditors must
have to maintain the highest code of ethics and professionalism.
A self proclaimed Halal Certification just like what
some group claiming to be is not yet considerable and not allowed even a Muslim owned
business cannot say my restaurant is Halal. My chicken is Halal because it is
Halal feed animal and all the ingredients being used are Halal. It require certain Halal raw materials,Halal additives,Halal process, Halal additives, Halal process, Halal handling, Halal packaging, and Halal transportation to meet the condition of the term Halal.The business owner should have an efficient management to overseethe products meet the requirements of Shari'ah Law pertaining to Halal matters and ensure zero mistake can be occur during the production. The application of the system called HALAL ASSURANCE SYSTEM (HAS) is a mustwith implementation of its eleven(11) criteria.
This article has been
created primarily to introduce my students and the reading public the
business of Airline Catering. I worked in an Airline catering since 1997 with several experienced Chef that really honed my Culinary skills and talent. Able to understand and learned the techniques, politics and variety of menu including diversity of food around the globe because airlines from different origin required us to prepare their food preference.We served thousands of passengers of Airlines going to different destinations including the Muslim pilgrims going to Makkah , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
To fully understand what is an Inflight catering let me introduce to you some definition of terms commonly used in this field.
AIRLINE CATERING
The business of providing an aircraft
with the food, beverages, and serving
equipment needed to serve the air
passengers during a flight.
AIRLINE CATERER
An airline
caterer, like In-flight Catering is producing, packing, and delivering foods,
drinks and serving equipment to the customer aircraft departing from Manila's
international airport.
FLIGHT KITCHEN
The place where all catering requirements are
prepared. Normally, the Flight
Kitchen prepares all needed food items. However, sometimes the airline, by
choice, brings its own food items,
such as frozen main dishes, sugar sachets,
coffee creamers, etc.
PASSENGER MEAL
One or more food items served to a
passenger:
On very short
flights only drinks are served.
On flights of less than 1 - hour
duration, only a sandwich or a pastry may be served.
On regional
(Southeast Asian) flights, a meal tray with salad, a hot dish and a dessert is
normally served. On very long flights (10-15 hours duration), up to 3 full meals (trays)
are served to each passenger.
Some
people fly very often on the same route on the same airline. In order for these people not to have to eat the same food on every flight, the airlines change
the menus at regular intervals. We call this Menu Cycles or Menu Rotations
HALAL
A word that tells a food item is slaughtered and prepared in accordance with Muslim religious tradition. Halal means good and pure, food is never contained pork or contaminated with
pork , pork by-products or alcohol. Neither
are they prepared with tools having been in contact with such products.Halal does not only dealing with food.Muslims are guided by principles of Halal and Haram. Haram is an opposite of Halal.
FLIGHT
It is defined either as: a) The operation
and flying of an aircraft (e.g. a flight to Hongkong"); or
in catering terminology, b) the foods
and things that together make up a complete set of catering for a particular flight (e.g."
the bakery has to plan for the next flight"). The flight is composed of
different things for different
departments or sections (e.g. in the
kitchen and on the highloader truck.
THE CUSTOMER
Practically all
the customers of In-flight Catering are foreign airlines, and many are from
Muslim countries. The airline representatives that decide on what catering or meals to use are
normally located in the respective airline headquarters abroad, but may
also be the local airline management in the Philippines.
The decision on
what food to use is usually made during a food Presentation held for the
airline customer representatives at In-flight Catering Flight Kitchen.
All details on
what catering to provide on the aircraft are decided by the airline only, not by In-flight
Catering.
THE AIRCRAFT
The aircraft operating in international
traffic from Manila's international airport have from 60-450 passenger seats (from Fokker 100
up to Boeing 707 to 747-400). An aircraft has 3 passenger classes: First Class,
Business Class, and Economy Class.
The doors on the
left side of the aircraft are referred to as Passenger Doors. On the right side
you will find the Service Doors, where catering and other services are loaded.
In the cabin of each aircraft you will find 2 or more galleys (or
pantry) where the catering goods are stored and prepared by the crew. In the Flight
Kitchen the catering goods are always prepared in so-called Meal Trolleys.
These trolleys are stowed in the aircraft galleys: which trolleys in turn are used by the cabin
crew during the passenger meal service during the flight.
THE PASSENGER
Although the
staffs of the In-flight Catering never get to meet them, the Passenger is
the ultimate end user of the In-flight Catering’s products. This is why great care is
taken, not only to prepare in the flight kitchen, but also when the tableware
and colors are chosen, and when the cabin crew is being trained.
The (in-flight) catering product is a
very important part of the overall passenger service concept of an airline, and
may make the difference for the passenger when choosing an airline for his next
trip.
THE CREW
For all practical purposes, the Cabin
Crew is the In-flight Catering "concrete" customer. They meet them every day on
each departure. They officially receive and sign for In-flight
Catering products and services.
The Crew's
opinions about In-flight Catering matter a lot in the assessment of
our performance and standard. The so-called Cabin Report,the
flight report of the Chief of the Cabin
Service Crew, customarily serves as the written appraisal of In-flight Catering products and services.
THE FLIGHT KITCHEN
The Flight
Kitchen is composed of these main sections: Goods Receiving and Warehouse (stores) Kitchen (food
production areas) Dishwashing (start of the flowline) Tray setting and
Equipment packing Beverage packing (Bonded Stores) Dispatch and
Transportation Customer Service (flight handling)
The In-House Support functions are:
1.Quality Assurance
& Control
2.Human Resources
(personnel services)
3.Accounting
4.Administration
& Security
5.Sales &
Marketing
6.Purchasing
7.Production
8.Facilities
Maintenance
9.Environmental
Management
10.Information Technology (computers)
Every department
is headed by a manager, and consists of several sections.
The Flight
Kitchen operates 24 hours a day. Outside office hours, when management is not
present, the Duty Officer (or officer-in-charge) holds the operational authority of the
General Manager.
The Flight Kitchen features
state-of-the-art machinery and equipment, and is designed for maximum
efficiency and ideal energy conservation.
Safety of man
and machines is everybody's responsibility. Use the allocated protective gear,
and comply with all instructions and laid-down procedures. Security is of
great concern to both airlines and caterers alike. In-flight Catering aims to comply
fully with all local and international regulations. To this end, all
personnel and visitors are required to strictly observe all instructions and
security measures.
THE FOOD
All preparation
of food is made according to airline customer specifications.
For Muslim
airlines, the code for Halal preparations is followed at all times.
The passenger
meals are planned in relation to the (meal) time of the day, the flying time
(duration of flight), and the space restrictions in the aircraft galley.
The most typical
meals
are:
Cold Snack or Sandwich ( SN)
Breakfast (BF)
Hot Snack (HS)
Lunch (LN)
Dinner or Supper (DN or SP)
Very often Special Meals are needed for
passengers who
have medical,
religious or other constraints; e.g.
Diet Meal
Vegetarian Meal
Low Fat Meals
Also, Special Children's Meals are provided on request.
In First Class,
the meals are abundant and refined, usually with several choices of all courses,
served on bone china. First Class normally has their meal table set with tablecloth (no trays) and
silver cutlery.
In Business
Class meals are either served on set table, or on tray. Depending
on the length of the flight, there are 2 or more choices for each course, served on
china dinner plates. Economy Class has the
complete meal served on a tray, with melamine plates.
THE FLIGHT OPERATION
The entire flight handling process is
supervised and controlled by an assigned Customer Service Officer (CSC).
Before the
"Flight" leaves the Flight Kitchen, every catering item is
checked in the loading bay area.
When everything is all right, the
complete catering "Flight" is stowed onto the Highloaders.A
Highloader is a specially constructed
truck that has loading doors both in the
back and in the front. With the help of a powerful hydraulic jack it can lift
its loaded body up to any aircraft
door, up to 6.5 meters above ground.
The highloaders must reach the docking gate
(aircraft parking area) before the aircraft reaches the gate. This is necessary in
order to assure the airline station manager that the catering service is ready.
After the incoming passengers have left
the aircraft, the highloaders align with the aircraft Service Doors, and start unloading the
"old" catering, and loading the new "flight". Upon
completion of loading the aircraft, the CSO gives a briefing to the Cabin Crew
(the Handover).
During the boarding of the
passengers, the CSO and the refrigerated
Express (stand-by) delivery truck waits at the gate for possible last-minute orders. Before the doors close for
departure, the CSO obtains the signature for the deliveries from the airline representative.
THE TIMING The key word in Airline Catering
is PRECISION! In the airline catering business
every step is planned well in advance.
Every link in the process of running the Flight Kitchen is controlled by TIME.
A failure in one link may lead to a
failure in the next link, and so on. This is why a lot of attention is put
into PLANNING. Therefore, your conformity to CORRECTNESS and TIMING becomes necessary
and obligatory.
THE CATERING PEOPLE
Regardless of duties and responsibility within the
company,. the people of In-flight
Catering are best
characterized as:
Honest and Cordial
Reliable
Resourceful
Teamwork-tuned
Service-oriented
Hygiene-observant
Quality-conscious
The best people
to judge In-flight Catering performance are:
Customers
Partners (suppliers, etc.)
Seniors
Owners
THE WORLD-CLASS
QUALITY
Regardless of
where in the world the airlines pick up their catering, they always expect the
same standards of Quality and Service.Through the management of anIn-flight Catering aims to live up
to, and exceed what can be called world-class Quality standards.While meeting all
local and national requirements, In-flight Catering also meets the
highest of all international standards for quality, efficiency and performance.
THE QUALITY
ASSURANCE SYSTEM
In-flight
Catering assent to the Quality Assurance System of Gate Gourmet, plus the
requirements of its customers
The main portions of the assurance systems are:
Service Quality(including consistency
and instructions Compliance)
HAS (Halal Assurance System)
Food Safety
Personal Hygiene
General Hygiene
THE SAFETY OF
FOOD
No single
subject is more important than the safety of In-flight Cateringfood products.
For In-flight Catering business this is a matter of REMAINING OR CLOSING SHOP!
Accordingly, it
becomes every employee's personal responsibility to fully and sincerely
comply with the related
rules and regulations.
The RAW MATERIALS
Extensive efforts are made by the
concerned departments to ensure that the
qualities of In-flight catering raw materials are the safest and the best.
Every supplier is
required to comply with the strict HACCP (Hazards Analysis & Critical Control
Points) regulations.
The TEMPERATURE
Bacteria grow ideally fast in food
holding 5- 65 °C
(40°F -140°F). This temperature range is often
referred to as the DANGER ZONE. This is why all perishable foods must be kept at less than 5°C or
higher than 65 °C always.In modern refrigerators, the medium setting is
approximately 5ÂșC. However, you must use a professional thermometer to verify this.
Therefore, affected departments and
sections continually probe
the temperature of the foods, wherever in the process it is found.
The HYGIENE
Together with good temperature control,
hygiene and cleanliness is the way to maintain foods in a safe state.
In the food
production process the work tables, machines, tools and utensils must be
sterilized and kept clean at all times.
All catering
staff must maintain good personal hygiene at all times. Food-handling staff,
however, has a particular responsibility to stay clinically clean (disinfected)
when preparing meals. In this respect. GOOD HAND HYGIENE is priority number
one.
THE TEAM
As mentioned earlier, airline catering
is a chain of interdependent link; the processes are so tightly timed; there is
no room for slip-ups.
In a team, airline catering staffs rely on each
other to perform correctly and on-time, all the time.
In a team airline catering staffs help each other.
In a team airline catering staffs consider their colleagues
the INTERNAL CUSTOMER.
THE PERFORMANCE
The In-flight Catering aims to deliver
zero-defect products and services - the first time, all the
time.
The In-flight
Cateringhas and develops
tools to measure their performance.The ultimate
measure is their ability to GAIN AND KEEP CUSTOMERS, and to receive their
customers' opinions and suggestions.
QUALITY PEOPLE with COMMITMENT
People working in an In-flight Cateringtakes upon itself to be a professional and fair people and with respect,
quality and enthusiasm with or without personal merit.
A team
performance, every employee will have a fair opportunity to
develop and chance to grow in the company.