Message #10497

[N. Truth Seeker]

I had said previously that licorice is Halal.  Well, it turns out to be not quite.  I mean, licorice itself is Halal but one of the ingredients mixed with it for making the finished product isn't Halal.  That's gelatine. 


English licorice allsort:  (Ingredients)

Sugar, glucose syrup, cane molasses, wheat flour, desiccated coconut, non hydrogenated palm kernel oil, glycerol, liquorice extract, gelatine, corn starch, modified maize starch, natural flavorings (coconut, vanilla, aniseed, orange, lemon, raspberry), cocoa powder, natural colors (beetroot red, curcumin, paprika, grape color extract), beeswax, spirulina concentrate, fruit and vegetable extracts (apple, hibiscus, blackcurrant, carrot, radish, spinach, nettle).

Yikes!   ???   Thanks sister Heba.  No one in my household ate it uptil now but your information came at the right time.  My little niece's birthday is coming up in a week and my sister is celebrating it by throwing a kids' party.  I intended to bring a big bundle of licorice as one of the nibbles for kids .. primarily because it's colorful and kids love that kinda stuff. While I too think vanilla is okay, gelatine is not.  Gelatine is made of animal bones.  If we knew which animal, then probably for something like this, bones of cattle or sheep/lamb would be okay because the quantity used would be so small (as brother Shabir had mentioned about rennet in salad dressings).  But it could also be pig bone and in that case even a small quantity is Haram.   Since it's impossible to find out the ingredients of gelatine, so I will definitely have to quit the idea of bringing this item.  

Thanks a billion for the info, sister.  May Allah be with you and your family.