Restaurants in Malaysia told to rename hot dogs or be banned

[Malthus]

It's far from an outrage, but the backlash against the OP is puzzling.  Not being able to call a hot dog a hot dog is just silly, regardless of where you are.

This sort of silliness is common in food labeling regulation, though. Even quite aside from the whole "this is only about Halal certification" thing.

There are lots of cases in which the manufacturer or retailer can't call something what they want, even though the term is widely used by the public. Not to mention, in Malaysia, unlike here, the term "hot dog" may well not be widely used by the public.
 

[Berkut]

It's far from an outrage, but the backlash against the OP is puzzling.  Not being able to call a hot dog a hot dog is just silly, regardless of where you are.

Not as silly as pretending like someone is "not able to call a hot dog a hot dog" when in fact they are free, in this case, to call it anything they like.

[derspiess]

Yeah but being halal there is a lot more important that being halal here.  I imagine in some towns not being halal would cut out a lot of your business.  A presumably all-beef hot dog made from cows that were slaughtered while some dude murmured Allah's name can't be halal just because some silly government agency doesn't like the name?  Yeah, that's silly.

[Berkut]

Yeah but being halal there is a lot more important that being halal here.  I imagine in some towns not being halal would cut out a lot of your business.  A presumably all-beef hot dog made from cows that were slaughtered while some dude murmured Allah's name can't be halal just because some silly government agency doesn't like the name?  Yeah, that's silly.

That depends on what the rules are around what defines halal, of course.

Now, I think it is silly that the government is involved in defining religious standards to begin with, but that is a different question. Given that they are, I don't think it is any more silly than rules that say what you can and cannot call your bubbly wine, or whether or not some cheese qualifies as being called "cheddar" or not.

[Jacob]

Yeah but being halal there is a lot more important that being halal here.  I imagine in some towns not being halal would cut out a lot of your business.  A presumably all-beef hot dog made from cows that were slaughtered while some dude murmured Allah's name can't be halal just because some silly government agency doesn't like the name?  Yeah, that's silly.

Perhaps the requirements for halal precludes mislabelling a product - such as calling something "dog" when it doesn't contain any dog.

[Malthus]

Yeah but being halal there is a lot more important that being halal here.  I imagine in some towns not being halal would cut out a lot of your business.  A presumably all-beef hot dog made from cows that were slaughtered while some dude murmured Allah's name can't be halal just because some silly government agency doesn't like the name?  Yeah, that's silly.

The concern is that it is potentially confusing to consumers (not everyone on Earth in American or European, and so not everyone on Earth knows what a "Hot Dog" is, or that it is not, in fact, made of dog meat).

The halal certification issue aside, this is really no different from rules requiring companies to avoid calling products "milk" when they are not dairy (as in "Soy Milk" or "Almond Milk").

[garbon]

Help! I was tricked into thinking I was eating dog!

[Malthus]

Help! I was tricked into thinking I was eating dog!

Point is that it makes a certain amount of sense to have food labeling clearly state what is in the food, and not something that is not. Not seeing any huge problem with that.

It only appears "silly" here because we are very familiar with that quintessentially North American product, the hot dog, and know more or less what is in it - a fine variety of snouts and anuses, but not those of actual dogs. 

[Grey Fox]

Wow, this thread is like everyone as suddenly been Tyrified & is now totally amazed that people are not the same everywhere.

[Admiral Yi]

The halal certification issue aside, this is really no different from rules requiring companies to avoid calling products "milk" when they are not dairy (as in "Soy Milk" or "Almond Milk").

It's the exact opposite.  The no milk rule is a prohibition of a false positive association.  The hot dog rule is a prohibition of a false negative association.

[Jacob]

Wow, this thread is like everyone as suddenly been Tyrified & is now totally amazed that people are not the same everywhere.

To be fair, people here mostly make fun of Tyr for being parochial about North American things but they're usually equally parochial about things outside the US.

[The Brain]

How do you prove a false negative?

[garbon]

Wow, this thread is like everyone as suddenly been Tyrified & is now totally amazed that people are not the same everywhere.

To be fair, people here mostly make fun of Tyr for being parochial about North American things but they're usually equally parochial about things outside the US.

Just a matter of time till Americanization takes over.

[Jacob]

How do you prove a false negative?

Don't even bother, everyone's using digital these days.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

It's the exact opposite.  The no milk rule is a prohibition of a false positive association.  The hot dog rule is a prohibition of a false negative association.

It's about people thinking a product is something that it is not.  The sentiment people hold towards the confusor is irrelevant.

What's extra ridiculous about this case is that the name "hot dog" is itself a made-up name that resulted from anti-German sentiments in the US during WWI.  It's essentially an instance of "freedom fries" that actually stuck.