KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — The Dolly Dim Sum chain today said the central kitchen supplying its restaurants has local halal certification, after the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said its restaurants did not.

In a post on social media, the firm said the central kitchen received the certification earlier this year, and appended the certificate number (JAKIM.700-2/3/1 021-06/2024) for customers to verify.

"As mentioned in our announcement on 1st August 2024, we are also in the process of getting our individual outlets certified.

"Securing the central kitchen certification is an essential part of the overall process,” the company said.

Yesterday, Jakim responded to questions online about the halal status of six restaurants — Johnny’s Restaurant, Black Canyon, Dolly Dim Sum, Mr Dakgalbi, and Bungkus Kaw Kaw — and said all six were not listed in its database of certified restaurants.

It encouraged those with questions on the halal status of premises or products to verify them directly through the Malaysian Halal Portal.

Today, the operator of the Johnny’s Restaurant and Black Canyon chains acknowledged that the restaurants of both did not have Jakim’s halal certification.

However, it said the chains only used ingredients sourced from suppliers with halal certification, and that neither served alcohol or wine.

It also said both were "working towards securing the Halal certification from Jakim for their Central Kitchen and the individual certification for all their outlets.”

Halal certification assures Mulims that products and services, particularly food, meet Islamic dietary laws and are permissible for their consumption.

However, a lack of halal certification does not automatically denote that a restaurant is non-halal, but only that it is not certified.

Due to the costs involved, the majority of micro-small-medium enterprises in Malaysia do not have Jakim’s halal certification.