Awareness of Ḥalāl food consumption among the Muslim consumers in Lagos and Ògùn states, Nigeria

Abstract

Ḥalāl food is prescribed by Allah for Muslim consumption which must be produced under strict compliance with Sharī‘ah. However, most  food products which are purchased by Muslim consumers are not ḥalāl certified. Focus has not been directed to investigate Muslims‟  awareness of ḥalāl food consumption in the coverage area of this study. Thus, this paper examines the awareness of the Muslim  populace in Lagos and Ògùn States towards ḥalāl food consumption. The survey utilised a five-point Rensis Likert scale to extract data  from 489 Muslim respondents who were selected through a stratified random scheme. The demographic characteristics of participants  (gender, ethnicity, age, occupation and education) are the independent variables employed in the study. The study reveals that Muslims  in Lagos and Ògùn States have a good level of awareness of ḥalāl food and possess a positive perception of it. The result from One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) reveals that age and education have a significant influence on the awareness of Muslim consumers towards  ḥalāl food while gender and age are the two significant influencing factors on the perception of Muslim consumers towards  ḥalāl food. This suggests that there is a need for strategic awareness and sensitization programmes to consolidate the current level of  awareness of Muslim consumers of ḥalāl food and also considering the potential of ignorance of manufacturers about ḥalāl food issues  which has to cut across genders, various age groups, occupations and education levels of Muslim consumers.