A name change is in the works.
This story originally appeared on fwx.com.
The nature of hot dogs has been the topic of hot debate for years. Primarily the argument centered on the sandwich-ness of the meat tubes,
but in Malaysia, a religious regulatory authority is raising a more
linguistic issue. According to a report from the AP the Malaysian
Islamic Development.
Department (Jakim) told American mall food court
staple Auntie Anne’s that if it wants to operate as a halal restaurant
in the country it needs to remove the word “dog” from its menus. That
means Auntie Anne’s needs to figure out something else to call its
pretzel wrapped hot dogs.
In a statement a Jakim representative suggested the company change the
name to “pretzel sausage” and Auntie Anne’s has agreed to comply with
the request, though it hasn’t settled on a final name yet. In a country
where over 60 percent of the population is Muslim, serving halal food is
a necessary part of.
The reason for the name change demand though, is what caught everyone’s
attention. The Jakim rep said it is because, “In Islam dogs are
considered unclean and the name cannot be related to halal
certification.” Indeed, according to Malaysian guidelines posted by NPR,
no restaurant can be certified as halal if it includes “confusing
terms” like “beer,” “ham” or “hot dog.” The concern seems to be that
people will end up either believing they ate actual dog meat or that
eating dog meat is ok. If that seems unlikely to you, you aren’t alone.
The Malaysian Minister of Tourism and Culture worried to the BBC that
this could make his country seem “stupid and backward.” That seems a
little extreme, but it does seem like it might cut into tourism by
baseball stadium vendors.
Regardless of where you come down on the “is hot dog a confusing name” argument, one thing we can all agree on is that a hot dog is not a damn sandwich.
Source: Travel&Leisure