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'

Skittles

I'm sure to most of you this is old news by now. Skittles indeed have been gelatin-free since around January, but there are still some people slowly finding out about it and rejoicing that they are now able to taste the rainbow alhamdulillah haha.

However, most likely there is a small trace of alcohol in it, for those who are wary of alcohol in foods, wAllahu ta'ala alam.

Oops

I haven't posted in almost 2 months! I'm so bad! Please leave suggestions on products/brands we should look into inshaAllah. JazakAllah khayr, and thanks for not sending me vicious hate mail for my lack of updates! =)

Lender's Bagels

Here's an email I received from Lender's Bagels. The bagels contain an ingredient derived from CHICKEN FEATHERS (?!?! eww..! who'd a thought?!) However, I haven't found information that would deem them as haram as the laws for zabiha meat and zabiha animal hide/exterior are different. I guess it just makes the bagels weird for now, until I find more info.

Dear Lazeena:

In the baking process yeast converts sugar into carbon dioxide and allows baked products to rise. HFCS is the sugar source in Lender's bagels that facilitates that process.

The dough conditioner in bagels, l-cycsteine is sourced from chicken - chicken feathers to be exact. This might render the bagels unacceptable for vegetarian consumption.

Beyond those requirements, the details of individual ingredients are part of our confidential formulation which we are not able to disclose.

Thank you for your e-mail.

Sincerely,
"LG"
Consumer Insights Representative

Lipton's Soups

A red flag with this brand, which will now queue us to be more careful with other brands is that in their soups they may list NATURAL FLAVORS in the ingredients section, which can be derived from animals. So the next time you see NATURAL FLAVORS on anything you buy... be wary...

Hello ,

Thanks for writing!

Most of our soups contain meat, meat derivatives, or dairy products.

Here are some exceptions :

MEAT, DAIRY & EGG FREE:

RECIPE SECRETS:
- Onion
- Onion Mushroom
- Vegetable

MEAT FREE, WITH DAIRY AND/OR EGGS:

CUP-A-SOUP:
- Broccoli & Cheese
- Cream of Mushroom
- Spring Vegetable
- Tomato

Ingredients of animal origin may be listed as meat (e.g., chicken or beef), fat (as in chicken fat), extract (such as beef extract, broth, or natural flavors).

But, we checked with our brand management, and they informed us that the natural flavors may or may not be derived from animal origin. There are many mixtures that we purchase from hundreds of flavor suppliers. If you are uncomfortable about the natural flavorings used they recommend that you do not use the product as we cannot guarantee that it is not of animal origin. We hope this information is helpful.

Kind regards
Your friends at Unilever

Here are the safe ones as mentioned above:

Apple & Eve Juices

Dear Lazeena:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Apple & Eve 100% juices.

None of our juices contain any animal derived ingredients or alcohol. Our 100% juice contains only juice with no artificial ingredients, sugars or sweeteners.

Best regards,
"RA"

Colonna Brothers Grated Cheeses

All of Colonna Brother's grated cheeses are halal alhamdulillah because they use microbial enzymes in them - which seems to be the case with most grated cheeses.

You can find their grated cheeses here

This is their email:

All enzymes found in Colonna Brothers Grated Cheese are microbial, not animal based.

Regards,
"DY"
Colonna Brothers Inc.