Singapore Airlines says Muslim meals sourced from halal-certified suppliers

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has clarified that Muslim in-flight meals are not halal-certified, despite the food coming from halal suppliers, due to in-flight preparation methods.

A Threads user, @opsieeedaisyyyy, sparked the conversation on Apr. 20, after she questioned if the Muslim in-flight meals were heated in the same ovens as meals containing pork.

At the time of writing, the post has garnered 3,400 likes and 724 comments.

In response to Mothership’s queries, an SIA spokesperson said SIA’s Muslim meal options “are prepared without pork, lard, or alcohol, and the ingredients are sourced from halal-certified suppliers”.

“However, these meals are not halal-certified, as the serviceware used is not segregated by meal type and the meals are reheated in the same ovens as other in-flight meals,” SIA added.

Threads user looking for replacement to Middle Eastern airline

In her comments section, the Threads user said her original flight with a Middle Eastern airline was cancelled and she was looking for a replacement flight.

For context, many Middle Eastern airlines, such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, have halal meals by default.

They are mostly national carriers of countries with Islam as the state religion.

Several online commenters, who claimed to be former or current SIA cabin crew chimed in, and confirmed that the halal and non-halal meals were heated up together.

However, they noted that Muslim and kosher meals have different procedures and are usually placed on the top rung of the oven.

SIA guidelines also state that passengers who require Muslim meals should request for them at least 24 hours before departure under the special meals option.

MUIS enters discussion

HalalSG, an official account led by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) on halal food and certification, also reposted the discussion.

“Also important to note: “not halal-certified” (for the airline as a whole) doesn’t automatically mean the food itself is not halal!”

HalalSG explained that in Singapore’s context, the Muslim meal (MOML) in SIA flights or any flights out-bound from Singapore are “prepared in dedicated halal-certified establishments before being loaded onto the aircraft”.