Unfortunately we live in a time where all kinds of nonsense is put into the most basic of foods. Tomato sauces don't only contain tomatoes and seasoning, but a wide range of additives. We have to be very careful of what we consume.
How many times do we scan an item to see if it is halal or not and dump it in the cart because nothing 'stands out'. The fact remains that most of us are not familiar with a lot of these ingredients and since it doesn't straight out say GOAT FAT or BEEF TALLOW we assume its okay. Wrong. Everything else is in scientific terms, so will be those other additives.
After contacting a company they told me if any of their products contain any of these ingredients, it was not halal: stearic acid, lanolin alcohol, and oleic acid. Now honestly, if the definitions of these words were not given to me, I would have assumed they were natural chemicals or something of the sort. However, these words define substances that are all derived from beef or pork! I'm sure many of the everyday things we use contain ingredients and words like these.
I'm no scientist and neither am I good with memorization, so for me to pick up something off the shelf at the supermarket and really read through the ingredients and understand what I'm seeing is not possible. This is the case with most people. We tend to rely on the Kosher sign as the green light to consume products. That is incorrect as well. What's kosher is not always halal. A small example, wine is kosher, but most definitely not halal. And the terms for wine are numerous.
Therefore, as Muslims, who hold cleanliness as half of our faith... it is our duty to be sure we're not only consuming halal, but even our hygiene products are halal too. For example, I eat only halal zabiha meat, but before Jumu'ah salah I hop in the shower and slather pig matter all over my body (sorry I mean a bar of Caress soap) then walk over to the masjid and stand before Allah thinking I'm clean... it just doesn't seem right. We need to contact these companies and see what they put into their products and avoid that which needs to be avoided inshaAllah.
I know some of us don't have this on the top of our to-do lists... or don't see it as a big deal. What's worse is sometimes when I tell people something is haram, they 1) Think I'm being extreme, 2) tell me they were better off not knowing and now because I told them they "can't" use it, which is a totally immature way of thinking, 3) Don't seem to care. Hmm.. now why go out of your way to eat only zabiha meat, deprive yourself of all the food places you could dine out at and all the precooked "tv dinners" you could stash in your freezer and yet still use products with beef and pork gelatin in it? What's the difference? It's still being consumed just not in the form of shawarma, steak, or a plate of biryani.
So this is what I plan to do about it. I know there are websites and books out there listing halal and haram products, but I don't see explanations. People want to know why, understandably. Why is my drink haram? What makes my cheese unlawful? What could they possibly put into fabric softener making it haram?! We're entitled to these answers most definitely. I know some people are busy or don't put much effort into getting this information from companies, but inshaAllah that is what I will be trying to do. I'll post the responses for people to see, and after that it's between them and Allah if they continue using something or not. Please do pass the word around to other brothers and sisters about widely used products inshaAllah. Please don't play the game where no one is looking and you think it's okay or you act like you didn't just read what you did because you don't want to face the facts - we're all going to be held accountable for our actions, even food consumption. Really, people make finding out these things a bigger deal than it is, when it's quite simple. But for those busy ones, inshaAllah they can come by here and see what's been discovered, rather than going through the steps of contacting the company.
Now another thing, there are people out there who do believe that non zabiha animal derived ingredients are not haram, and so I'm not here to argue with those people. Personally, I prefer to be on the safer side and avoid these foods. Better safe than sorry, Rasulullah (SAW) said when something is doubtful, avoid it. Come on guys, it's just Goldfish and Kraft Mac n cheese, I know it tastes good, but the foods of Jannah are better, inshaAllah ta'ala! Yes, so please don't come to me and cop an attitude or doubt the companies responses if proof is staring you in the face. I too was not a happy camper when I got the email from Pepperidge Farm confirming beef in their goldfish, but it is what it is. The best thing we can do is send emails to these companies asking them to consider more natural ingredient and if they see many suggestions for that, they may change. Kraft mentions they are working on more naturally derived ingredients because of many Vegans and Jews contacting them - what about the Muslims? When the Mar's chocolate scare came out about them wanting to use beef derivatives in their chocolates, the Muslims forwarded emails and lashed out on their blogs but who really emailed Mars or called them? It was the Vegans who took a stand. We're so lazy! When I emailed Caress about their bar soaps they said no one really mentioned before wanting only naturally derived ingredients in the soap and they never really explored the idea or thought it even mattered!
But back to what I was saying, if you don't eat zabiha meat, please don't come here and spew hate. You're welcome to read and discuss but no saying 'this is extreme', 'this is overboard', 'then what can you eat? nothing!' 'youre wrong!' There are many other alternatives for haram foods out there, it's just parting with the ones we've gotten comfortable with and finding better ones inshaAllah.
Please feel free to leave suggestions of companies/brands to contact in the most recent entry's comment section inshaAllah and I will try my best to get in touch with them. I am benefiting from this as much as others will be inshaAllah. Of course whatever products I use I will contact, but there are so many products out there you and others use that we need to know about too, so if some things slip my mind, help me out!
I hope I can provide direct answers as to what makes some of our favorite brands unlawful rather than just seeing a black and white yes or no.
Right now I'm waiting on responses from maybe a dozen companies. So sit tight until I get a proper response inshaAllah.
JazakumAllahu khayran
-Lazeena Umm Yusuf
