Halal and Non-Halal: Halal and Non-Halal Raw Materials in the Food Industry

This article introduces the Halal and non-Halal raw materials commonly used in the food industry, for the business community to consider making their products Halal. At the same time, given that China currently lacks enough enterprises producing Halal products and the market supply of Halal products is insufficient, many Muslims have little choice when selecting goods and have to choose products without the 'Halal' mark when buying certain necessities. To be reassured, Muslim consumers often need to understand the ingredients of food. However, due to a lack of sufficient professional knowledge, they are also quite blind in their choices, so this article also provides some guidance to consumers on this issue.

The key points of Halal products in the food industry are:

1. The product ingredients must not contain any Halal-prohibited substances (such as raw materials from prohibited animals, or prohibited substances such as alcohol);

2. Animal raw materials: must be edible animals compliant with Halal regulations; must be slaughtered according to Halal principles;

3. No substances that do not comply with Islamic law may be added during the product manufacturing process;

4. Product storage complies with Halal regulations.

Looking at the production processes of food processing enterprises, in addition to the main raw materials, their commonly used additives—such as antioxidants (vitamin C, etc.), preservatives (sodium benzoate, etc.), thickeners (gelatin or carrageenan, etc., sourced from seaweed), binders, colorants—often comply with Islamic law.

The non-Halal raw materials commonly used in products are as follows:

1. Emulsifiers. Emulsifiers commonly used in the food industry include hydrogenated butter (or lard) and hydrogenated vegetable oil triglycerides. Animal or vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated or decolorized become emulsifiers. If illegal animal oils are used, the emulsifier is non-Halal. Obviously, using hydrogenated vegetable oil triglycerides is lawful.

2. Gelatin. Gelatin is often made from animal bones and skin as raw materials. Currently, looking at China domestically, gelatin factories all use a mixture of various animal bones or skins for production, so this gelatin is of course illegal (non-Halal).

3. Enzymes. Enzymes have a wide range of uses in the food industry. Enzymes extracted from the bodies of illegal animals are non-Halal (such as pepsin, elastase used as meat tenderizer, trypsin, etc.); they cannot be used in the Halal industry. Enzymes derived from microorganisms or plants are lawful.

4. Glycerin. Glycerin made from animal fat is commonly used in the food industry. When making products Halal, glycerin from plant raw materials should be used.

5. Lard. Usually refers to animal fat, and of course illegal.

6. Lecithin. Lecithin can be extracted from both animals and plants. Currently, most edible lecithin is extracted from soybeans. Lecithin of animal origin is illegal.

7. Alcohol. Alcohol or other narcotic substances are all prohibited.

8. Flavors. Flavors themselves are often derived from plants, but many flavors are extracted with alcohol or dissolved in alcohol. Now, many flavors do not need alcohol as a solvent, and manufacturers can choose such flavors.

9. Packaging materials. Materials such as plastic are lawful. Some metal packaging materials have a layer of animal fat (or stearate) coated on the inner wall; this is illegal.

From the above, food manufacturers can make their products Halal simply by choosing appropriate raw materials (raw material costs do not have to rise). For businesses, this is a market with great potential.

The table below lists items commonly used in the food industry, for ordinary Muslims' reference.

Ingredient — Judgment

Acetic Acid — Lawful

Alcohol — Illegal

Ammonium Sulfate — Lawful

Animal Fat — Illegal

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) — Lawful

Sweeteners — Lawful

Benzoate / Benzoic Acid — Lawful

Calcium Carbonate — Lawful

Carrageenan — Lawful

Cholesterol — Doubtful

Citric Acid — Lawful

Cocoa Butter — Lawful

Collagen — Illegal

Corn Meal / Corn Starch — Lawful

Corn Syrup — Lawful

Dextrin / Dextrose — Lawful

Diglyceride — Doubtful

Diglyceride (plant) — Lawful

EDTA — Lawful

Enzyme — Doubtful

Ergosterol — Lawful

Fatty Acid — Doubtful

Ferrous Sulfate — Lawful

Fructose — Lawful

Fungal Protease Enzyme — Lawful

Gelatin — Illegal

Glucose — Lawful

Glyceride — Doubtful

Glycogen — Doubtful

Gum Acacia — Lawful

Hormones — Doubtful

Hydrogenated Oil — Lawful

Hydrolyzed Animal Protein — Doubtful

Malt — Lawful

Mono Saccharides — Lawful

Monosodium Glutamate — Lawful

Nitrates / Nitrites — Lawful

Oxalic Acid — Lawful

PABA — Lawful

Pectin — Lawful

Pepsin — Doubtful

Phospholipid — Doubtful

Potassium Citrate — Lawful

Renin — Doubtful

Saccharine — Lawful

Yeast — Lawful