Tom's of Maine (Toothpaste, Deodorant, Mouthwash, Soaps)

Tom's of Maine's products are animal ingredient free and also alcohol free alhamdulillah. My parent's have been using their mouthwash for years and I swear my dad woke up with fresh breath... okay sorta... but my point is it's good, strong stuff....... and halal too! Wippie!

"Our support of non-animal-testing models also includes the belief that we don’t need to use animal ingredients to create effective products. Just one example: glycerin, used in toothpastes and soaps, is often made from animal ingredients, but ours is vegetable-based." Taken from here.

"Because of health concerns, we do not use alcohol in our products..." Taken from the FAQ section.

Check out their website to get familiar with some of their products!

Bertolli Pasta Sauce

If you buy Bertolli's pasta sauces, please keep these matters in mind:

• Any label listing CHEESE, or any type of cheese, is most likely derived from PORK.
• Avoid any variety with BEEF/MEAT FLAVORING
• Of course avoid all of their VODKA SAUCES, because obviously there is Vodka inside
• They also said they use SHERRY WINE in their products, but didn't specify if this was always on their label or if you used it in all the sauces. I would switch to a different brand to be on the safer side.

Hello Lazeena,

Thanks for writing!

Bertolli sauces do not contain animal or animal derived ingredients unless listed on label, e.g., cheese, cream, etc. The label may also specify that the product is flavored with "beef" or "meat" . The "Meat" is always beef. However, the cheese in products may be produced using ingredients derived from pork. You must check each label. If the product contains cheese, then you must assume it contains a pork derivative.

The wine used in our product is a sherry wine with a very minimal alcohol content. The Unilever and home cooking processes almost eliminate the alcohol entirely. The wine is really just a flavoring agent.

In our Vodka sauce, the recipe includes 2 1/2% Vodka for flavoring purposes only. Most of the spirits evaporate during the reheating process leaving behind only the flavor.


Kind regards,
Your friends at Bertolli

Nestle Hot Chocolate

A lot of hot chocolates contain MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES and/or WHEY.

This is what Nestle had to say about their hot chocolate:

Dear Lazeena,

None of the Nestle Hot Cocoa flavors contain any animal derivatives except the products with marshmallows, as the gelatin comes from pork.

Sincerely,
"BW"
Consumer Response Representative

Aussie Shampoo

Aussie and Herbal Essences are both owned by the same company, so the response I got from them was the same I'd received for Herbal Essences ... that they sometimes use animal products but cannot indicate exactly when.

Thank you for contacting Aussie.

All of our products may or may not contain animal by-products, depending on what ingredient source was available at the time of manufacture. The ingredients used may be derived from a variety of vegetable sources or animal sources (typically beef or pork). I

ngredients that may be derived from animals are fatty alcohols, fragrance, gelatin, glycerin, hydrolyzed collagen, keratin amino acids, and tallow glycerides. Clairol/P&G uses vegetable sources whenever possible!

The Consumer Relations Team

Arm & Hammer Liquid Detergent

Dear Lazeena:

Thank you for contacting us recently regarding ARM & HAMMER® Liquid Laundry Detergent.

We appreciate your interest in our product. We do have animal by-products in our detergent.

"RER"
Consumer Relations Specialist

(This includes all varieties of Arm & Hammer Liquid detergents)

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:

Sensodyne Toothpaste

Dear Lazeena,

We have received your e-mail regarding Sensodyne® toothpaste.

Sensodyne® toothpaste products do not contain animal derivatives. The toothpaste does contain glycerin; however, the glycerin is from a vegetable source.

Sincerely,
"R"
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

V8 Juices

V8 juices are all halal and vegan even. They have 3 different types (V8 Splash, V8 Juice, & V8 V-Fusion) with several flavors, all of which are permissible inshaAllah.

Smucker's Jellies, Jams, and Preserves

Dear Lazeena ,

In response to your inquiry, Smucker's Jelly, Jam and Preserves do not contain any animal derivatives or alcohol.

Sincerely,
"TG"

Tums

The only Tums varieties that are not okay are EX Sugar Free and Tums Smoothies.

The rest do not contain animal derived ingredients, they are:

• TUMS Dual Action
• TUMS Quik Pak
• TUMS Ultra 2000
• TUMS EX 750
• TUMS Regular Strength
• TUMS Kids
• TUMS "To Go"
  

Dear Lazeena,

We have received your e-mail message regarding Tums® antacid/calcium supplement.

The Tums® EX Sugar Free and the Tums® Smoothies contain animal derivatives.

All other variants of Tums® do not.

We appreciate your taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,
"S"
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

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

Jergen's Lotion

Lazeena:

We are always pleased to hear from our consumers and your comments are very important to us.

For Jergens, our Naturals Renew, Naturals Hydrate and Naturals Refresh are free of animal derived ingredients

However, for our other products, we cannot guarantee the lack of animal derived ingredients because we use multiple suppliers for a variety of our materials who can change sources at any time due to market conditions.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Cordially,

Kao Brands Consumer Relations Dept.
Ban Biore Curel Jergens John Frieda

So from the Jergen's Natural's collection of Lotions, 3 of the 4 are okay - Natural Soothes are NOT. Aside from the Natural Collection, they also have a Soften, Smooth, Enhance, Nourish and Preserve collection of lotions which all seem to have animal bi-products.

The links are provided for the different collections, so if you use Jergen's you can double check and compare the bottle image on the site to the one you have to be sure if you're using an okay one or not.

Barilla Pasta Sauce

Pasta sauces seem to be a tricky product. Here is an email from Barilla stating that only a few products contain ingredients that we cannot consume, however, they said that they share equipment between all the other flavors so there's contamination between ingredients. They shouldn't be allowed to mix equipment! That's bad for Halal eaters, Kosher eaters, and Vegans customers!

Good Morning Lazeena,

Thank you for your recent email to Barilla America, Inc.

The Barilla Green & Black Olive contains wine. The Barilla Three Cheese sauce contains cheese. Both of these products are made on the share equipment with our other sauces.

We hope that you continue to enjoy Barilla Pasta & Sauces.

Regards,
"D"
Consumer Relations Barilla America, Inc.

Biore Facial Products

Lazeena:

Our Biore products have only plant derived or synthetic ingredients.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Cordially,

Kao Brands Consumer Relations Dept.
Ban Biore Curel Jergens John Frieda

Silk Soy Milk

Taken from Silk's website:

Are Silk products vegan?

Yes, completely! There are no animal derivatives hidden in any of the ingredients. The lactic acid and live cultures used in Silk soy yogurt come from a vegetable source. All vitamins used to fortify Silk Soymilk are derived from vegetable sources including calcium carbonate that comes from limestone.

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.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese & Neufchatel Cheese

Nothing beats this stuff, thank Allah it's halal!

Hi Lazeena,

Soft cheeses utilize another method of coagulating milk by the growth of pure cultures of bacteria in the milk and the development of lactic acid.

Our cream cheese products such as PHILADELPHIA BRAND Cream Cheese and Light PHILADELPHIA BRAND Neufchatel Cheese fall into this category.

"KM"
Associate Director,
Consumer Relations

Coffee-Mate Creamers

Nestle says that none of their creamers contain any animal derived ingredients *phew* alhamdulillah. The only thing in it animal derived is something from milk, and milk is okay for us.

Dear Lazeena,

The only animal derivative in our products is sodium caseinate, a milk derivative, as stated on our label...

Sincerely,
"BW"

Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa

All but the flavors with marshmallows are okay.

Dear Lazeena,

The mono & diglycerides in Swiss Miss products are all plant derived.

The marshmallows in varieties that contain marshmallows are made with gelatin derived exclusively from North American Pork.

Sincerely,
"E"

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

Ensure Drink

Hello Lazeena,

Thank you for contacting Abbott Nutrition.

Ensure(R) products do not contain animal ingredients aside from cow milk proteins.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
"L"
Consumer Relations
Abbott Nutrition

Ricola

Dear Lazeena,

In response to your question, Ricola does not contain any ingredients derived from animal ingredients or alcohol.

Sincerely, Ricola USA Inc.
"FF"
Customer Relations

Nesquik

This includes all flavors of the beverage.

Dear Ms. Lazeena,

We have reviewed your email and researched your inquiry.

Our Ready to Drink product is Kosher OUD which indicates dairy only. "Kosher OUD" also means no other animal products.

Sincerely,
"BW"
Consumer Response Representative

Prego Pasta Sauce

Prego's pasta sauces are ALL haram, except for the Organic Sauces:

• Organic Tomato & Basil Italian Sauce
• Organic Mushroom Italian Sauce

I wasn't told what was in the rest of them which made them impermissible, but I was advised by Campbell to not consume them if I didn't eat products with animal derivatives in them. The Organic sauces are also Vegan I was told.

Mike and Ike Candies

All current Mike and Ike candies do not contain any animal derived ingredients in them:

Dear Lazeena,

There are no animal derived ingredients in our MIKE AND IKE® Brand Candies.

Regards,
"SAL"

Sunny Delight (Orange Juice Drink)

I never really liked this for some reason... I remember when I was younger on the news I'd heard there was a young girl who for a while drank almost an entire liter of this stuff a day and her skin color started having an orange glow from it! haha

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting Sunny D.

None of our Sunny D versions contain animal fats or animal by-products.

Thank you again for your inquiry.

Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Sunny Delight Beverages Co Consumer Relations Department

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

Skippy Peanut Butter

Skippy says that when buying their peanut butters, to look out for the following ingredients as they may come from animal sources:

• Meat
• Fat
• Extract

Yes... very vague and I doubt they would be exactly listed as such on the label. The person who replied back didn't seem that friendly. In the question I sent I just mentioned that I was Muslim and that I follow a certain diet (due to religious laws) and they responded weirdly to it... or maybe it's just me!

Hi Lazeena,

Our products are formulated for use by the majority of consumers and not specifically for those on restricted diets.

Ingredients derived from animal origins may be listed as meat, fat and extract (e.g., chicken, beef or natural flavors).

Changes in existing products can occur without notification. We suggest reading all ingredient labels carefully.

Hope this information is helpful! Your friends at Skippy

UHMM....?? Maybe I'll try again and maybe someone else may respond and make more sense!

Ellio's Frozen Pizza

I used to LOVE these as a kid. So easy to make, and in my opinion, were pretty tasty for a frozen pizza. However, after realizing there was no kosher symbol I stopped eating it when I was like... 11. Almost 10 years later, it's still not certified kosher, or halal, because they get their cheese from a variety sources, therefore they're not able to keep track of where enzymes come from.

I found this before emailing them while checking their FAQ section

Nestle Nips

Nestle's Nips (all flavors except 'Buttered Rum') is halal and made using only vegetable derived ingredients, as confirmed by Nestle.