Fadhli said the real issue at hand was the use of bogus halal certification, not the meaning of “ham and cheese”.

“Those who are concerned about halal certification are Muslims who want the food they consume to be genuinely recognised as halal by the Islamic development department (Jakim), ” he said in a Facebook post.

He said if the product had not been certified as halal, it would not have been an issue as it would be up to the customer to decide.

“But using a fake halal certificate means deceiving people,” he said.

“So, who’s the real idiot here? The minister who claims his grandfather was a soldier – care to respond?”

Yesterday, Nga, who is a DAP vice-chairman, took a jab at those whom he accused of making a fuss over the matter, saying ham simply referred to meat that had been cured.

He said that turkey ham and chicken ham were perfect for consumption and that the same applied to root beer, which is non-alcoholic and made of sassafras root.

Nga, who is also housing and local government minister, said making a fuss over the chicken ham and cheese sandwich issue “simply shows who is the real idiot”.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh had questioned the halal certification for the sandwich, and cited the previous controversy involving the sale of “Allah” socks by KK Mart.

On Monday, KK Mart said it had suspended all business dealings with the supplier of the pre-packed sandwiches sold at one of its outlets at Universiti Malaya after concerns were raised about the use of the halal logo on the packaging of the sandwiches.

Jakim confirmed that the sandwiches in question, along with the company manufacturing it, were not halal certified.

The domestic trade and cost of living ministry had also raided the sandwich factory involved. It found that the halal logo on the packaging was from a certification issued to another company, which was no longer operating and had sold its business to the firm that was raided.