Barakah Dates Project

As salaamu alaikum!!

2 years ago some of you helped donate money to buy books and dates for Masjid Naim in Pereria, Colombia, alhamdulillah. Now we have a bigger project in mind, to raise money to buy dates for a few masaajid in South America and the Caribbean inshaAllah.

Barakah Dates Project is a non-profit organization collecting donations to purchase and ship dates to South American and Caribbean countries for Ramadan 2010!

Why is this so important? These countries do not import dates, and on top of that, the majority of these communities are too poor to even afford dates. Imagine never tasting dates before?! Dates are an essential part of Ramadan, let's share them with our beloved brothers and sisters, inshaAllah! Don't wait for the blessed month to arrive to start your sadaqah!

DONATE HERE using PayPal account OR credit/debit card: http://barakahdatesproject.chipin.com/

Follow the project's blog:
http://barakahdatesproject.blogspot.com/

Contact us for information on how to mail a check or money order.
Feel free to collect donations in your masjid/community/MSA!

Check out this video - the initial inspiration for the project, alhamdulillah!

Trident Layers

Dear Lazeena:

Thank you for contacting us about Trident Layers. Your comments and inquiries are appreciated because they provide valuable feedback about our brands.

Our Trident Layers products do contain gelatin that is derived from a pork base.

Alcohol can be used as a carrier in certain flavors in our confectionery products. Also, our gums, mints, and cough drops are not kosher certified.

There is no alcohol present in the final product (or any of our other confectionery products). Any minute traces of alcohol that might possibly be used as a flavor carrier would dissipate during the manufacturing process and would not be present in the finished product.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We hope that you will continue to purchase and enjoy our products.

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations

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"

Fantastic World Foods

Hi Lazeena,

Fantastic World Foods is a brand which makes a line of Vegan meals. They're pretty much ready made and in a box, all you have to do is heat it up or add some water. These would be perfect when you want a good dinner but are too lazy to cook.

I've tried their hummus before (even though I didn't have to go the vegetarian route for that!) All I did was add hot water and a dash of olive oil and I was good to go! I also tried their Vegetarian Chili, now I for one am not a fan of meatless chili, but it tasted great paired with tortilla chips.

Check out their products here, and below is the email I was sent from them. Oh, and for some reason when they responded to the email the person said THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN OUR MEAT LOAF MIX.... uhhhh... I never even mentioned MEAT LOAF MIX. I just asked if it was alcohol free lol!.

Thanks so much for your interest in our Fantastic Foods Meat Loaf Mix and for taking the time to write.

Your questions are very important to us and I'll certainly help you as best I can.

No, there is no alcohol in the vegetarian entrees.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to assist you.

Warm Regards,
"DS"
Customer Service / Marketing Associate Blue Marble Brands

Bath & Body Works Hand Soaps

Dear Lazeena,

The gelatin used in our products is derived from general fish stock - they are not caught solely for the harvesting of gelatin. The gelatin is taken from fish that are being used for food purposes.

Sincerely,

"AA"
Customer Relations Representative

I guess this goes for gelatin found in any other BBW's line of products because she didn't specify the Anti-Bacterial Hand Washes (which I inquired about)... rather, she said 'our products'. Allah knows best!

A Reminder

As salaamu alaikum to all,

I know it's been disgustingly long since I updated this blog, and I really do apologize for that and inshaAllah my intention is to get back into things.

First, I wanted to remind everyone (once again, even though it's already on the site for those who are quick to talk without reading) that this blog isn't meant to say THIS FOOD IS HALAL or THIS FOOD IS HARAM, as I am not knowledgeable enough to say that I can only speak for myself and my family and what we choose to use or not use. But rather it sheds light on which ingredients are in certain foods and which are not, to help people decide based on the opinion they follow if they'd like to continue consuming/using a product or not. The most followed opinion is that once there is alcohol or animal byproducts in food or even body care products it's not permissible, however there ARE other opinions. So sometimes the site will seem to be slanted in the direction of the views I favor, but no need to come battle it out with your view, this blog is for informational purposes.

I'd also like to thank the readers who follow up on certain products, within the comment sections you will see some people who took the time out to contact certain companies received additional information regarding items and I'm thankful that they are being active themselves and sharing their finds with us.

I also never thought when I first started this site that it would be helpful to people other than Muslims, which I can't believe I overlooked. So for our vegetarian, vegan, Hindu, and Jewish contributors out there, thanks a bunch! And I hope this site caters to your needs as well!

"More Ovaltine Please!"

Good news for my husband - the Ovaltine addict =)

"...Ovaltine is Kosher OUD. This means it contains dairy but no other animal products..."

(This includes all their varieties: Rich Chocolate, Chocolate Malt, & Classic Malt)