Purpose Traditional audit-based certification is no longer sufficient to ensure halal integrity in complex global supply chains. To address the resulting trust deficit, this study conceptualises digital halal as a socio-technical ecosystem that requires the joint optimisation of scientific authentication and digital governance. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 257 Web of Science articles published between 2005 and 2025. Using VOSviewer and CiteSpace, it combines co-occurrence and keyword burst analyses to examine the relationship between technological development and governance responses. Findings The analysis reveals an imbalance between the technical and social subsystems of digital halal. While the technical subsystem has achieved considerable maturity through advances in molecular authentication, the governance subsystem remains fragmented. Although the industry has effective tools to detect fraud, it lacks the institutional frameworks needed to govern them effectively. As a result, verified information is not consistently translated into credible market signals. Originality/value Unlike previous reviews that focus on the technical performance of digital tools in halal supply chains, this study views digital halal as a socio-technical trust problem. It combines signalling theory and Socio-technical systems theory to explain why trust gaps persist and how they may be addressed. The findings suggest that trust in credence goods markets depends not only on technology but also on the institutions that support and interpret verified information. This insight extends beyond halal markets to organic certification, fair-trade labelling and other food integrity systems.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.