ABSTRACT
This chapter explores kosher and halal in the context of 'religious' science. Much like the science of food safety, kosher and halal production is concerned with preventing the adulteration of food. Given the complex web of global food production, it is no longer possible for kosher and halal consumers to ascertain the origin of many raw materials, so science plays an increasingly important role in interactions between religious regulations and secular production. Fifty years ago, an individual food product may have contained only five ingredients, but today a single food item may contain hundreds of ingredients sourced from many different locations. In this changing context, businesses whose products are accused of not living up to religious standards can be held to account, and more and more kosher and halal products are thus subjected to testing for unwanted ingredients by certification bodies and, in the case of halal in particular, by laboratories at religious universities.
