Japan has some of the original burger shops, and Freshness Burger is one of them. Although the name is not as widely known as other burger shops, their burgers are served fresh, and they are quite popular in Japan.
Do they have something Halal for Muslim travelers? Let’s see how their food are prepared for you to judge if the food is Halal or not.
How is Freshness Burger special?
Just opened as recently as in 1992, the burger shop has been so successful that their branches are available throughout Japan. They specialize in “freshness”, just like their name, and they prepare their burgers after they receive orders from customers.
Unlike other fast food shops, they neatly prepare their food and drinks. They mush the pumpkin to mix with bread dough, squeeze fresh fruit to make a juice, or even potato wedges for fries are cut inside the shop.
Bread with mushed pumpkin.
They also let customers to customize as they like. When you enter the shop, you will notice there is a shelf of spices or condiments. They are not only limited to tomato sauce or mustard, but also truffle spray or spicy sauce.
So, is there anything Halal at Freshness Burger?
Great news is that we have found some seafood and vegetarian burgers at Freshness Burger.
https://www.freshnessburger.co.jp/pdf/allergy.pdf
We can find following items are free from beef/chicken/pork or gelatin, information as of August 2024.
Soy Teriyaki burger* Soy Garden salad burger* Soy Avocado burger* Salmon burger Salt Lemon scallop burger Hokkaido fried potato French fries Coleslaw salad Long potato
However, please be noted that their Soy series has animal-derived ingredients in their bread and sauce, which means they are not genuinely vegetarian.
Also, we could not confirm the usage of seasonings that has alcohol, and also their kitchen handles other meat products.
What about their frying oil? Is French fries / seafood burger Halal?
We have just confirmed that Japanese McDonald’s frying oil is a mix of cow and plant oil, which means that their fried items are not free from animal-derived ingredients.
As far as we checked, Freshness Burger’s frying oil is a mix of palm and olive oil. However, we have to know that this frying oil may have cooked some other meat products, too. This means their seafood burgers may have been cooked in a oil that has cooked other meat products.
Consume at your own description.
What we can say is that seafood burgers and fries at Freshness Burger are free from animal-derived ingredients, but they may have been cooked in a contaminated oil. Their vegetarian burger is not completely free from animal-derived ingredients.
We have some items that have no haram ingredients, however, please use your own description to consume the food or not.
