Muslims’ curiosity about cooling Chinese herbal tea should make halal certification no-brainer

 

MANY folks swear by traditional Chinese herbal teas to bring down the body temperature or to have the so-called “cooling effect”.

Henceforth, a simple recommendation by Chevening scholar Daniel Teoh brought about plenty of feedback.

The political communications student extravagantly claimed on X that Koong Woh Tong is the “original teh pahit sejuk badan” (bitter body cooling tea)” while other brands were mere “sunat laser” (laser circumcision).

The latter remark presumably denotes that competitor brands were modern, thus lacking in authenticity ie not the real thing.

The self-proclaimed US professional basketball league a.k.a. NBA addict was responding to a post by popular influencer Roman Akramovich (@SyedAkramin) who had claimed that the Tan Ngan Lo medicated root tea was a cost-effective method to cool down.

Halal or not?

The Tan Ngan Lo brand had been recommended by a Chinese friend and was readily available at Chinese medicine shops.

Interestingly, Daniel Teoh’s brief-yet-bold claim has generated 686.31K views with many Muslim consumers expressing curiosity over the effectiveness of this traditional concoction.

At the very forefront of the many comments were enquiries by Muslim commenters on whether the brand had the requisite halal certification.

These seemed like genuine enquiries rather than those aimed at putting down a brand. One curious consumer expressed eagerness to try the tea but needed assurance on whether it was permissible for Muslims to drink, thus asking other netizens NOT to attack her query.

A few netizens quickly provided assurances with one furnishing the list of outlets bearing the halal certification while quipping, “One only need to Google for answer”. Another brushed aside unfounded concerns by contending that “there’s no alcohol, pork/turtle gelatine or even dried frog” in the herbal beverages.

Elsewhere, the query was met with a positive reply from one thirsty consumer who noted the outlet at AEON (location not specified) had the requisite halal certification. “Could not wait to try” was his eager response.

Editor’s Note: Koong Woh Tong’s signature herbal jelly (guiling gao) and bottled herbal tea products are certified halal by JAKIM.

However, only the pre-packed products (bottles/tins) possess this certification. Their retail branch premises are not certified halal, raising potential cross-contamination concerns as food is served in or cooked at these locations.)

The recommendation for the Tan Ngan Lo brand was also met with positive response as it, too, had the all-important halal certification from JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia).

Nevertheless, the recommendation by Daniel Teoh was heeded by Roman Akramovich who “decided to give it a try, too ” without much delay.

“Because his tweet went viral last night and many claimed that Koong Woh Tong’s herbal tea is good,” penned the online shop owner in a post.

“Coincidentally, I had a sore throat due to the hot weather so I ordered the jelly and herbal tea. They do have JAKIM’s halal certification. Earlier when I went, there were quite a few non-Chinese customers there as well.”

As if doing a deserving promotion for Koong Woh Tong, Roman Akramovich contended that “ready-made bottled herbal beverages” are also available for take-away purpose.

“If it’s difficult for you to find them at your location, you can buy them on Shopee. For those who live in Kedah or Perlis, the herbal drinks will come in handy to fight the hot weather ”.

Asked if the taste is sweet or bitter, the social media influencer replied that “it’s bitter but they do provide sugar (honey) to reduce the bitterness”.

At the end of the day, Roman Akramovich shared that he “tapau (packed) two bottles to be brought home” from the IOI City Mall Putrajaya outlet which is located at level LG next to the HomePro shop.

His sharing did make wave for Koong Woh Tong as more Muslim consumers came to appreciate its halal status and particularly, its multiple effectiveness aside from cooling effect, including “for guts health to relieve constipation”. 

- focus malaysia