How to check if a product is halal

Start with a halal certification mark from a body you trust, because it is the only check that covers how and where a product was made. Without one, read the full ingredient list for animal ingredients, alcohol and gelatine, and look for the additive codes whose origin a label hides: carmine (E120), mono- and diglycerides (E471), shellac (E904) and L-cysteine (E920). A vegetarian trademark rules out some of these but not alcohol, and the manufacturer can answer what the label leaves open.

Published October 9, 2026

Step 1: look for a halal certification mark

A halal certificate covers a specific product, made in a specific plant on a specific line. That is a claim no ingredient list, and no database about substances, can make, so a valid certification mark is the strongest single check available to a shopper.

Not every logo is genuine. Indonesia's MUI advises consumers to check that the logo on a pack is valid and warns that some producers or sellers commit fraud or forgery; it offers an online check and a mobile app for its own certificates. In Singapore, the religious council MUIS publishes the list of foreign certification bodies it recognises, together with their certification marks.

Certifiers also differ on some disputed ingredients. Indonesia's MUI, for example, has ruled cochineal permissible, so a product certified by a body following that ruling can contain carmine (E120). The certificate tells you which body's reading was applied.

Step 2: read the whole ingredient list

Under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information, as it applies in the UK, the list of ingredients is one of the mandatory particulars on a food label. Read all of it, not the front of the pack. The items that decide most cases are meat and animal fats, gelatine, alcohol or wine, emulsifiers, and the word "flavouring".

Alcohol needs care. MUI rules that ethanol derived from khamr, that is, from an alcoholic drink, cannot be used in halal products, while ethanol from other sources is allowed if it is medically harmless; for drinks, the final product must contain less than 0.5%. A flavouring is also an open question, because a natural flavouring substance can be obtained from vegetable, animal or microbiological material.

An ingredient list also has gaps by design. Processing aids, and carriers used in the quantities strictly necessary, do not have to appear in it. Gelatine, for example, is an authorised additional substance in fruit juice in England, and when it is used as a processing aid it does not have to be listed.

Step 3: know the additive codes with a hidden animal origin

Carmine, E120, also called cochineal, is a crimson colour made from cochineal insects, and it is Haram on this site. Shellac, E904, is a glazing agent made from the resin of the lac insect, and it is also Haram here, although some scholars compare it to honey and beeswax and several certifiers accept it.

Gelatine is always of animal origin; look for it by name in the ingredients list, although older or non-EU labels may show it as E428 or E441, the codes this site's additive pages use for it. Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, E471, are emulsifiers made from vegetable or animal fats. Because the label rarely names the source of either, both are Doubtful (mushbooh) on this site.

L-cysteine, E920, is used as an improving agent. It has been made from human hair, from duck feathers, or by synthesis and fermentation, and only the last raises no objection. It is Haram on this site; a halal certificate or a declared synthetic or fermentation source settles it.

Step 4: use vegetarian labels, manufacturers and scanners wisely

A vegetarian trademark answers some of these questions. The Vegetarian Society's criteria exclude animal flesh and body parts, including fish, shellfish and insects, as well as gelatine, animal rennet and any other by-product of slaughter, shellac, and processing aids made from any of these. Its published criteria do not list alcohol or wine among the excluded items, so the trademark does not settle the alcohol question.

When a label leaves the source open, ask the manufacturer which raw material it uses, for example whether its E471 comes from vegetable oil or animal fat. A declared vegetable source, or a halal certificate covering the product, removes the doubt.

A scanner app speeds up steps 2 and 3. Halal & Healthy shows a verdict for a scanned product and for each additive it declares. It is an automated classification, not a fatwa and not a certificate, so for anything you need to be certain about, the certification mark and the body behind it remain the authority.