Malaysian Authorities to Conduct Halal Spot Checks

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department have decided to begin conducting random spot checks on hotels throughout the country to ensure that any hotel that claims to sell halal foods is authentic. The step is claimed to be necessary to ensure that Muslim visitors to the country aren't duped by more salacious hotels.

Currently the country has 60 halal certified hotels out of a total of 2000 hotels, so the department will focus on the most popular tourist destinations, such as Penang, Langkawi and Melaka. Its has alsready been announced that all three star hotels in Sarawak complied with the policy due to the Government's policy that functions are only held in hotels that serve halal food.