Dessy Sagita – From more than 50,000 bakso vendors in Indonesia, less than 1 percent have secured a halal certificate, according to the Indonesian Ulema Council.

Ma'ruf Amin, the deputy chairman of the organization known as the MUI – which is also the sole issuer of halal certificates in Indonesia – said they could not force bakso vendors to undergo halal verification.

"The law rules that halal certification should be voluntary. We cannot force someone to test their products," Ma'ruf told a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Lukmanul Hakim, the head of the MUI's Food, Drug and Cosmetics Assessment Agency (LPPOM), said that the council were only authorized to control the supply chain and production process of a food or beverage product after the producer voluntarily applied for halal certification.

He added that even if producers only used halal beef to make bakso, a popular meatball soup, the end products could still be haram as production tools used might have also been used to process pork.

"Throughout Indonesia there are more than 50,000 bakso vendors, but probably only about 100 of them have obtained halal certificates," Lukmanul explained.

The MUI's statement comes as a response to recent findings that some markets in Jakarta were using pork rather pure beef for bakso meatballs. Similar findings have been reported in East Kalimantan. The reports have concerned Muslim consumers as eating pork is forbidden in Islam.

Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said last week such that bakso producers could face up to five years in jail for violating Indonesia's consumer protection law – unless they informed buyers that their bakso contained pork.

Bayu added that bakso producers may have added pork into the meatball mix as a way to save costs, following the soaring prices of beef after the government slapped a restriction on beef imports to encourage growth in the local meat and cattle industry.

"The government must find a way to protect the public from non-halal products, without victimizing bakso vendors," Ma'ruf said.