We came across this image being forwarded on WhatsApp:
According to the caption, Carlberg (sic) beer is halal, followed by an image of a can of beer presumably with halal certification. Halal refers to the dietary standard in Islam, which prohibits Muslims from consuming certain food, including alcoholic drinks and intoxicants.
When we conducted a reverse image search, we found multiple sources, mainly blogs and social media accounts that posted the image, leading to questions about the authenticity of this image. Upon further research however, we found that the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) had discussed this image on their official Facebook page, once on 26 Feb 2015, nearly 7 years ago, and again 6 days ago, on 9 Feb 2022.
We also found an article by The Sun Daily, a Malaysian newspaper referring to the same image, dated 10 Jan 2014, leading us to conclude that this false claim has been circulating in the internet for an extended period of time, having been picked up again by social media users in 2022.
In the latest post from JAKIM, they included a statement that when translated to English states, in part: “The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) has confirmed that the contagious message on social media about the picture of a can of liquor with the halal logo is fake. JAKIM said that it found that the picture of the can of beer with the halal logo had been re-posted on social media lately.
According to him, the investigation found that the halal logo on the beer can had been edited by an irresponsible party. It is also a recurrent hoax that JAKIM has been debunking since 2014. “However, lately, we have been receiving consumer inquiries on social media regarding the issue of the halal logo status on the liquor product,” he said.”
Based on the information we found then, it is false that Carlsberg beer has been certified halal. Additionally, this is not the first time that this claim has been made, having originated in 2014 and being recirculated in 2015 and again in 2022.
