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COMMON FOOD INGREDIENTS AND ADDITIVES

Opinions on the permissibility of food ingredients and additives made from animal sources

Listed on the following pages are common food ingredients and additives that many food products contain. Some of these ingredients and additives can be made from animal or plant sources or produced synthetically. There is an agreement among Muslims regarding those, which are made from plant or produced synthetically that they are Halal. However, there is disagreement regarding the permissibility of those made from animal sources if the animal is not slaughtered according to Islamic rite or if the source is from pig. Since most product labels do not indicate the source, it might be necessary to contact the manufacturers if you want to find out about the source. 

FIRST OPINION
 
According to this opinion all food ingredients and additives produced from animals which were not slaughtered according to Islamic rite or from the pig are Haram and not suitable for Muslims to consume. Any food product, ingredient or additive containing alcohol or produced with the use of alcohol is Haram and unsuitable for Halal use. 

SECOND OPINION
 
This opinion is based on the Shar’iah rules of Al-Istihalah (transformation) and Al-Istihlak (assimilation or consumption.) This opinion is adopted by the Islamic Organisation for Medical Sciences, Kuwait, (www.islamset.com.) 
Al-Istihalah (transformation) is defined as "changing the nature of the defiled (Najis) or prohibited substance to produce a different substance in name, properties and characteristics." This includes transformation through chemical reaction or burning. Examples for transformation through chemical reaction include the manufacture of soap from oils and fats. 

As for Al-Istihlak it refers to “the blending of a small amount of a prohibited or defiled substance with a dominant clean and permissible one resulting in the obliteration of the prohibited or defiled substance altogether.” 

Imam Ibn Taymiyah said: "The defile things which Allah has prohibited such as carrion, blood and pig meat and the likes if they drop in water or a liquid and were completely assimilated so that their particles were dispersed and disappeared in the liquid, there is no longer carrion, blood or pig meat (meaning that the prohibition no longer applies to the new substance), and if alcohol was dissolved in a liquid and it vanished and disappeared; whoever drinks the new liquid is not drinking alcohol." 
In its certification of Halal products, the Islamic Foundation of Ireland follows an inclusive approach, which satisfies the needs of all Muslim customers. It follows the first opinion which states that:
All food ingredients and additives produced from animals which were not slaughtered according to Islamic rite or from the pig are Haram and not suitable for Muslims to consume, and
Any food product, ingredient or additive containing alcohol or produced with the use of alcohol is Haram and unsuitable for Halal use. 

In this way the certification of Halal food and ingredients is done to the standards approved by all certifying Muslim authorities in Europe, the Middle and the Far East.