Additives, gelatin and doubtful ingredients

Processed foods raise a new question: what about ingredients derived from prohibited animals (gelatin, enzymes, coagulants) or of uncertain origin (flavourings, E-numbers)? The resolutions of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), the fatwas of the Saudi Permanent Committee and the positions of the classical schools allow a case-by-case answer.

Three starting principles

• The default rule is permissibility: "Eat of the good things Allah has provided for you" (al-Ma'ida 88). Prohibition requires proof, not blanket suspicion (al-Bukhari 2051).
• Meat follows a stricter rule than other substances: an animal is permissible by default, but meat is presumed prohibited until a valid slaughter is established. Meat extracts, stocks and animal fats therefore require verification that a chemical additive does not.
• Simple doubt does not prohibit: only certainty or preponderance changes the ruling.

Istihala (complete transformation) according to IIFA

Resolution 198 (4/21), 21st session (Riyadh, 2013): a real change of the impure or prohibited substance into another substance differing in name, characteristics and attributes; the scientific example cited is the decomposition of fats into fatty acids and glycerine. A partial chemical interaction does not suffice. The schools admitting this principle: Hanafis (Ibn Nujaym, Ibn al-Humam), Zahiris, the widespread Maliki view, corroborated by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim.

Gelatin: three doctrines

• Specific prohibition of porcine gelatin in food: Permanent Committee fatwa 8039 (22/260-261); IIFA resolution 23 (11/3), Amman 1986, Q13 (yeasts and gelatins containing swine extracts are not permissible in foodstuffs); IIFA resolution 225 (9/23), 2018, Q24 (porcine gelatin remains prohibited in food even if no longer identifiable in a laboratory, but is permitted in medicines absent alternatives).
• General istihala: the schools above deem the substance purified once transformation is complete; Shaykh Qays Al Shaykh applies this to porcine gelatin in medicines (as wine turns to vinegar); Egyptian Dar al-Ifta and the European Council for Fatwa and Research follow the same analysis for medicines.
• Istihlak (effect vanishing in the mixture): Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin, Liqa' al-Bab al-Maftuh 48a: if the prohibited substance leaves a perceptible effect (taste, colour, smell), it is prohibited; if fully dissipated, no harm, as the Companions ate the cheese of the Magians.

Rennet and cheeses

IIFA resolution 225 (9/23), 2018, Q23: rennet from lawful animals, alive or dead, even not slaughtered according to Shariah, is halal; only rennet from unlawful animals such as pigs is not. This joins the classical position: for cheeses made in Western countries, the Muslim is not required to investigate the source of the rennet (al-Ma'ida 5, with the report of Ibn Umar). Microbial or vegetable rennet poses no intrinsic issue, provided the industrial culture media are lawful.

Alcohol, vinegar and flavourings

• Cooking with alcohol: prohibited, even a single drop, even if it all evaporates (IIFA 225, Q13).
• Natural fermentation traces: no objection as long as the product does not intoxicate; ethanol as a solvent or processing aid is likewise tolerated absent a halal alternative and at a non-intoxicating dose (Q11-12).
• Vinegar made from alcohol: no objection (Q14). Spontaneous vinegar is lawful by consensus; deliberately turning wine into vinegar was disapproved (Sahih Muslim 1983), with Hanafis and Malikis lenient on the result, Shafi'is and Hanbalis stricter.
• Medicines with alcohol or gelatin: permitted absent an alcohol-free alternative and on a reliable physician's prescription (IIFA 23 (11/3), Q12).

Reference table of discussed additives

• E471-E495, E470, E570, E572: plant or animal (tallow, lard) feedstock depending on the producer; verify when undeclared.
• E441: gelatin, follows the three doctrines above.
• E120 (cochineal): insect-derived colouring; SANHA classes it haraam, others treat it as a mere disagreement on land insects.
• E542: bone phosphate; per IIFA 2018, bones of a lawful land animal are usable only if ritually slaughtered.
• E626-E635: yeast, sardine or meat depending on production; verify when undeclared.
• E904: lac insect secretion (not the crushed body); several bodies class it halal after processing, others doubtful.
• E920/E921: feathers, synthesis or fermentation; verify.
• E322: soy or sunflower in virtually all of the European market.
• E422: in the EU, Regulation 2023/1329 restricts food glycerol to vegetable oils and fats.
• E153: vegetable carbon in Europe; bone char possible elsewhere.
• E334-E337: possibly from dealcoholised wine lees; disagreement on the transformation.

Check a specific product

The site publishes a dedicated tool analysing the declared composition of over 300,000 products of the French market, substance by substance, with these same sources: Halal ou haram ?.