Religion, science and markets.

in 2001, a food scandal raged through­ out indonesia. the indonesian ulemas council (Mui; Jakarta, indonesia) accused a Japanese company of using pork products in the production of the flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSg), and demanded that the indonesian govern­ ment take appropriate action. it was a serious accusation: if true, the company would have violated halal rules, which forbid Muslims from eating—among other things—any pork or pork­derived products. as a consequence of the scandal, several employees of the company were arrested and a public apology was issued. it is most likely that the flavour enhancer did not contain any pork products; instead, the company conceded to having replaced a beef derivative with the pork derivative bactosoytone in the production process, for economic reasons. Bactosoytone was used as a medium to cultivate bacteria that pro­ duce the enzymes necessary to make MSg. as the products of the company had prev­ iously been certified as halal by the Mui, the scandal seemed to undermine or question the legitimacy of these religious scholars in the eyes of millions of Muslim consumers.