Former Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani has cautioned against the campaign to boycott non-Muslim-made products.

The Umno leader said in business, the interest of parties of various races could be involved.

"For example, a Malay may have set up a factory and plans to expand it by taking out a loan from a Chinese.

"The Chinese may hold 51 percent of the shares as collateral until the loan is repaid.

"This is a person selling Muslim products but if we're just going to look at the shareholding, then he will end up being boycotted," he told an economic forum organised by Puteri Umno at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur today.

"So be careful, it can backfire," he added.

He said that there was no certain way for the public to determine the exact ownership or structure of a company.

"My worry is that legitimate products by Muslims would inadvertently face boycotts," he said.

Johari said what was important was for Muslims to consider whether a product was halal or not instead of looking at race.

"In terms of business, it is universal. Universal meaning does not consider skin colour, be it Malays, Chinese or Indians. The differentiation is whether the product is halal or not," he said.

Johari pointed out that even major international companies such as Nestle and Dutch Lady, which may be owned by foreigners, have to go through the process of having the Islamic Development Department certify their products as halal.

"So we may play with rhetoric (about a boycott) but it is not for the realm of business," he said.

Also present at the forum were Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and former Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Proponents of the campaign have said they are not calling for a boycott but want to prioritise Muslim businesses.

However, there has been a parallel campaign on social media singling out which businesses to support and which to boycott.