Cheez-Its!

"Lazeena,

Thank you for emailing us your questions regarding Sunshine® Cheez-It's®. We appreciate your interest in our company and products and are happy to answer your questions.

Kosher law is very complex. Some animals are prohibited from being consumed while others are allowed. If our product is labeled as Kosher, it does not contain any non-Kosher ingredients but may still contain Kosher approved animal ingredients including some meats and milk.

It appears that you are interested in knowing if Sunshine® Cheez-It® Original crackers contain any animal ingredients. The only animal derived ingredient in these crackers is milk. The enzymes used to make the cheese are from a microbial (yeast) source. No animal enzymes are used in Cheez-It® products.

No Cheez-It® products contain alcohol. If a product's ingredients include natural and/or artificial flavors, these ingredients can be processed with alcohol. However, during the baking of our crackers, all of the alcohol is evaporated leaving no alcohol in the final product.

I do hope this information answers your questions and that you will be able to enjoy our cheezy crackers!


Sincerely,


R.A.J.
Consumer Affairs Department"

Mystery Animal Source in Cheetos

Hi Lazeena,

Thank you for writing to us. The list on our website is a list of products that DO NOT contain pork. The enzyme used to make the cheese used in Cheetos Crunchy is from an animal source, but not pork.

Most cheese is made using animal enzymes animal. The source of the enzyme lends to the flavor of the cheese.

We consider you a valued consumer and hope you will continue to enjoy snacks from Frito-Lay.

Best regards,
"B"Frito-Lay Consumer Affairs

This is not the first time Cheetos has told me about 'other animal ingredients' in their Cheetos. In 2 previous e-mails they've told me the same exact thing. Also, whenever I inquire about what specific animal they tell me 'not pork' or 'if you have any allergies or religious dietary restrictions please avoid eating Cheetos'

Andy Capp Fries (Hot Fries, Cheddar Fries...)

Dear Lazeena,

All of the Andy Capp Fries would be considered to contain animal derivatives. The Cheddar Fries, Chili Cheese and the White Cheddar steak Fries all contain cheese. The Hot Fries contain whey. The whey is animal derived.

Sincerely, Consumer Affairs

Wise Dips and Salsas

None of the Wise Dips or Salsas are halal. I do not know what exactly is in them but customer service told me that they are not kosher, meaning that they do contain animal byproducts.

The Dips and Salsa products include:

• Bravos Mild Salsa
• Bravos Medium Salsa
• Bravos Hot Salsa
• Wise Nacho Cheese Dip
• Wise French Onion Dip
• Wise Green Onion (Dip Mix)

Here are some images to help you see what the actual product and packaging looks like:

Hostess Snacks

Hostess, my friends, is a big no-no. None of their products are okay.

Here is a list of Hostess Products:

• Twinkies
• CupCakes
• HoHo's
• Suzy Q's
• Ding Dongs
• Donettes
• Mini Muffins
• Sno Balls
• Fruit Pies

I used to be a Fruit Pie addict! I loved the apple ones, but a few years ago I stopped finding them at the store and eventually gave up on them.

Here's a summary of what the email says for any lazy bums who don't feel like reading it =)

1. FRUIT PIES contain BEEF FAT
   
2. SHORTENING on the ingredient label can be from either VEGETABLE or BEEF sources
3. BEEF FAT is used in the CREAM FILLINGS
   
4. BEEF FAT is also used in the FRYING OIL
   
5. GELATIN on the ingredient label is always from PORK

Here is the email:

Dear Lazeena,

Thank you for your thoughtfulness in contacting us regarding the shortening ingredients used in our products.

Our Hostess Fruit pies contain beef fat. The shortening ingredients noted on our labels are: vegetable (may be soybean and/or canola and/or cottonseed and/or palm oil) and beef shortening. "Beef Fat" when noted, is a very small trace used in the creamy fillings of our cakes for taste. Also, it is used in a trace amount in the vegetable oil frying medium.

Gelatin, when noted on the ingredient legend is pork sourced. Gelatin is used in the squiggle of our Hostess® and Dolly Madison® cupcakes and also in the Hostess® SnoBalls.

Thank you for contacting us...

Sincerely,
CM
Consumer Response Representative

Snyder's of Hanover (Pretzels and Snacks)

Snyder's of Hanover says that any of their products labeled as Kosher, does not contain any animal derived ingredients. They sent me the Letter of Certification by the Orthodox Union, I'm not sure if the link will work or not.

In any event, inshaAllah just check for whatever has the kosher sign (in this range of products) and they are safe for consumption inshaAllah.

They make several pretzel snacks, some chips and a few popcorn flavors. This is their product page

(Just a collage of some of their products, I don't know which ones here are halal or not)

For some reason in the string of 4 emails I sent in response to their emails, even though I signed my name LAZEENA each time, this person called me LATEEN each time! ughh.. LOL

Lateen,
I hope this helps.

There is no meat or meat derived ingredients in our products if they have the OU symbol on the package.

However, if you must avoid milk this ingredient will be listed in the ingredient section.

Thanks for your interest in Snyder's of Hanover.

Kraft: Snackwells Cookies

These snacks contain gelatin in them, which is derived from either beef or pig. I believe all of them contain gelatin - I may be wrong. If it doesn't contain gelatin then as of right now I do not know if they are still okay... but most of these are to be avoided inshaAllah

Smartfood: White Cheddar Popcorn

Ah, how I miss thee!

Dear Lazeena:

We are pleased to respond to your recent inquiry concerning pork-related ingredients used in some of our seasoned products.

While some Frito-Lay snacks do contain enzymes from porcine sources, many do not.

Smartfood has animal enzymes in the cheese.

Sincerely,
"T"
Consumer Affairs

Wise: Cheez Doodles

It breaks my heart to think about Wise's Cheez Doodles. I was so in love with them. I await the day I can get my hands on a halal version of these. Sometimes if I close my eyes and open my mouth, I can still taste them..... okay not really haha.

All of Wise's cheese flavored snacks contain animal derived ingredients:

• Puffed Cheez Doodles
• White Cheddar Puffed Cheez Doodles
• Doodle O's
• Crunchy Cheez Doodles
• Reduced Fat Crunchy Cheez Doodles

Ritz Bits

I remember eating the Ritz Bits with cheese when I was a kid... man they were really good!

When I contacted them they were pretty vague with the answer, nonetheless, they still provided one:

"To the best of our knowledge, there is an animal derived ingredient used in Ritz Crackers containing cheese"

*shrug* It just seems haram to me. It would have been nice to know exactly WHAT was in it, but they haven't gotten back to me about that... for two months now... so yeah...

Well, their cheese is from Kraft... and any Kraft cheddar/American cheese has animal ingredients

Oh and of course the Smore's flavor one is haram as well, because of the marshmallow.

Superpretzel

These are soft, frozen pretzels which you just pop into the oven to bake for a little and they come out as warm, chewy pretzels.

Aside from their original pretzel flavor, they make some "Pretzelfils" which contain cheese on the inside. None of the Pretzelfils are halal, only the original flavored pretzels are okay.

These are the ones that are NOT okay:

• Pizza Pretzelfils
• Pepperjack Pretzelfils
• Mozzarella Pretzelfils
• Superpretzel Softstix (filled with Kraft cheese)

Someone asked me to look this one up. I've never tried these before, but it's been YEARS since I've had a delicious, warm pretzel... so I might just give it a shot. Now that I think about the local mall has a pretzel place and I might be better off with those. Me and pretzels are like a 1 time thing... you know there are some things you just have once in a while, otherwise you wouldn't enjoy them? mmm They make these cinnamon pretzels with a sweet frosting-type cream sauce poured over it... ahh I sense a field trip for tomorrow!

Wise Popcorn

All Wise's Popcorn flavored snacks are not halal, or Kosher even. There is some animal derivative in them. I don't know what exactly but if anyone is curious I can try and find out.

Their Popcorn snacks include:

• Butter Flavored Popcorn


• Reduced Fat Buttered Flavor Popcorn


• Reduced Fat White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn


• White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn


• Hot Cheese Popcorn

Wise also stated that any of their products marked Kosher are free of any animal ingredients. Therefore, anything unmarked, is not kosher, and therefore not halal.

I always found their buttered popcorn to be too salty anyway. I was always a fan of White Cheddar popcorn, though I haven't had any in about 4 years.

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish

Here's an email I got from Pepperidge Farm regarding their Cheddar Cheese Goldfish snacks. I'm still waiting on a response regarding the other flavor fish shaped snacks they produce.

The source of cheese enzymes in our Cheddar Cheese Goldfish is beef

Short, not-so sweet, and to the point. I don't know what other proof people need. A lot of people don't believe me when I tell them they're animal by-products in the,. This is the 3rd email I've sent them in the past 5 years and it's always the same response.