Are Dorritos Halal? Yasir Qadhi explains ..
Ma sha Allah, a beautifully well-written article explaining the heated email-forwarding debate about Frito Lay and their use of rennet in their cheese.
Our own Sh.Yasir Qadhi explains ...
http://muslimmatters.org/2007/07/09/of-mice-and-men-the-cheese-factor
posted by Muhammad Alshareef @ 12:27 PM
17 Comments
17 Comments:
AOA
Brother Qadhi, you did confuse Muslims about how sheese is made, you the left most important aspect of cheese making, the use of starter culture bacteria, they have to have origin from milk not meat. These starter culture bacteria are grown on starter culture media, the media has t be Halal, not from pork source. These bacteria are added to cheese before rennet to provide taste and texture for cheese. Majority of rennet are now from microbial which is Halal. Beside you forgot use of Lipase enzyme to break fat. It has to be from microbial for its Halal status. So please do not confuse Muslims if you do not have the complete knowledge of cheese making. Please go our website wwww.muslimconsumergroup.com Ingredients section learn about how cheese become Halal.
/10/02
ALERTS
WHY DORITOS AND CHEETOSE PRODUCTS ARE NOT HALAL IN US & CANADA
Lot of Muslims calls Frito Lay Company to find out the Halal status of Doritos and Cheetos products. The 800 personnel are trained by the company to tell consumers that their cheeses are made with microbial rennet enzyme. But many Muslims are not aware that the rennet is not only thing, which decide the Halal status of a cheese. There are other things which has to be Halal if used during manufacture of a cheese such as Mother Culture Media, Bulk Culture Media (which is used to grow bacterial cheese cultures), other Enzymes such as Lipase and finally dairy flavors containing Enzymes, if the rennet is from microbial and above mentioned are not from Halal source then cheese will not be Halal. The culture medias are made with milk, whey and lactose (Haram if made from pork rennet, Haram media, pork enzymes), dried autolyzed brewer’s yeast (by product of beer) and Pancreatin (Haram if from pork). If culture media is pure milk then it is Halal. There was a international uproar from Muslims around the world when Ajinomoto of Indonesia used a pork derived culture media to grow bacteria for the production of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in Indonesia in 2000 (Muslim Consumer Group’s News/Alert update Jan. 05, 2001). We explained to Frito Lay Nutritionist supervisor Ms. Nina Ferguson about the requirements for Halal cheese and other ingredients. She is not aware of what are Halal and its requirements for Doritos and Cheetos products. We offered our help to educate them about Halal status of their products.
Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal because of the following reasons:
1. The ingredients they used are not Halal or kosher certified.
2. The products are made on the same line where animal derived ingredients(including pork) containing products are manufactured.
3. Cheese used in Doritos and Cheestose products is not Halal or kosher certified.So cheese in Doritos and Cheetose is not Halal.
4. Dairy ingredients used in Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal or kosher certified. So Doritos and Cheetose products are not made with Halal dairy ingredients.
5. Natural and Artificial flavors used are not Halal or kosher certified. These flavors may have contained animal derived ingredients and alcohol as a solvent.
6. Artificial Liquid colors used are Halal or kosher certified (Pork glycerin can be used as a solvent in FD&C liquid colors).
7. Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal or kosher certified, so there is no protection for Muslim consumers. The source of ingredients can be change at any time without informing Muslim consumers.
Muslim Consumer Group does not recommend Muslims to consume Doritos and Cheetose products because of the above facts.
Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed
Muslim Consumer Group for Food Products
AOA
Brother Qadhi, you did confuse Muslims about how cheese is made, you left most important aspect of cheese making, the use of starter culture bacteria, they have to have origin from milk not meat. These starter culture bacteria are grown on starter culture media, the media has to be Halal, not from pork source. These bacteria are added to cheese before rennet to provide taste and texture for cheese. Majority of rennet are now from microbial which is Halal. Beside you forgot the use of Lipase enzyme to break fat. It has to be from microbial for its Halal status. So please do not confuse Muslims if you do not have the complete knowledge of cheese making. Please go to our website wwww.muslimconsumergroup.com Ingredients section learn about how cheese becomes Halal.
8/10/02
ALERTS
WHY DORITOS AND CHEETOSE PRODUCTS ARE NOT HALAL IN US & CANADA
Lot of Muslims calls Frito Lay Company to find out the Halal status of Doritos and Cheetos products. The 800 personnel are trained by the company to tell consumers that their cheeses are made with microbial rennet enzyme. But many Muslims are not aware that the rennet is not only thing, which decide the Halal status of a cheese. There are other things which has to be Halal if used during manufacture of a cheese such as Mother Culture Media, Bulk Culture Media (which is used to grow bacterial cheese cultures), other Enzymes such as Lipase and finally dairy flavors containing Enzymes, if the rennet is from microbial and above mentioned are not from Halal source then cheese will not be Halal. The culture medias are made with milk, whey and lactose (Haram if made from pork rennet, Haram media, pork enzymes), dried autolyzed brewer’s yeast (by product of beer) and Pancreatin (Haram if from pork). If culture media is pure milk then it is Halal. There was a international uproar from Muslims around the world when Ajinomoto of Indonesia used a pork derived culture media to grow bacteria for the production of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in Indonesia in 2000 (Muslim Consumer Group’s News/Alert update Jan. 05, 2001). We explained to Frito Lay Nutritionist supervisor Ms. Nina Ferguson about the requirements for Halal cheese and other ingredients. She is not aware of what are Halal and its requirements for Doritos and Cheetos products. We offered our help to educate them about Halal status of their products.
Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal because of the following reasons:
1. The ingredients they used are not Halal or kosher certified.
2. The products are made on the same line where animal derived ingredients(including pork) containing products are manufactured.
3. Cheese used in Doritos and Cheestose products is not Halal or kosher certified.So cheese in Doritos and Cheetose is not Halal.
4. Dairy ingredients used in Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal or kosher certified. So Doritos and Cheetose products are not made with Halal dairy ingredients.
5. Natural and Artificial flavors used are not Halal or kosher certified. These flavors may have contained animal derived ingredients and alcohol as a solvent.
6. Artificial Liquid colors used are Halal or kosher certified (Pork glycerin can be used as a solvent in FD&C liquid colors).
7. Doritos and Cheetos products are not Halal or kosher certified, so there is no protection for Muslim consumers. The source of ingredients can be change at any time without informing Muslim consumers.
Muslim Consumer Group does not recommend Muslims to consume Doritos and Cheetose products because of the above facts.
Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed
Muslim Consumer Group for Food Products
AOA
Sheik Qadhi and other Ulema use the term Chemical Changes to justify Halal status. It is very important to know what actually happens during chemical changes. For exapmle Wine consists of alcohol, flavor, odor compounds and color if obtained from red grapes. Every ingredient of wine is Haram. When wine is subjected to Acetobacter bacteria for making wine vinegar, its job is to convert only alcohol in the wine. It has no impact on flavor, odor compounds and color which remain in the wine vinegar. Also because of the complex nature of wine, some actual wine is not converted to acetic acid and water. So wine vinegar has Haram ingredients from wine. There are several requirements of Tabdeele Mahiya including original name change, the change of the basic unit of Haram to a new thing, such as a change from alcohol to acetic acid and water in vinegar. Many pork based raw material has basic units of amino acids in gelatin and fatty acids in the case of bar saop. According to the scientific literature, the basic units above remained in finished products such as pork gelatin and bar soap made with pork glycerin or fat.
An Islamic scholar can not recommend to Muslims its Halal status without the knowledge of food technology, how foods and ingredients are made. So he needs the help of an experienced food scientist to explain to him how foods are made. Similarly a food scientist needs the help of Islamic scholars to understand sharia. I spent 33 years working in food industries including cheese plants, and I have education in cereal/food science. I have several ulema listed on our website www.muslimconsumergroup.com who provide me sharia rules on food ingredients and food products. I have been educating Muslims in USA since 1985 about the Halal status of food ingredients and food products. Many Muslims are not aware that the Burger King restaurants fry fish fillet, chicken nuggets and pork patties in the same fryer and same oil.
Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed
Muslim Consumer Group for Food Products
www.muslimconsumergroup.com
www.candianhalafoods.com
Br. Rasheed, asalaamlaikum. I suggest you read the article again, because it is based not on istihala (changing) but on quantity.
Br. Amad
Br. Qadhi educated in Saudi Arabia in religion has ignored a Hadith reported by Ibn Abbas RA and taken from IBN Khaseer Tafseer that Prophet Mohammed Sallallahu Alaiwasalallum was telling to Saad Bin Abiwiqas RA that if a person knowingly cosumed a bit of Haram food, Allah will not accept his prayers for 40 days. How a Saudi educated person ignore this Hadith. This bit of Haram foods includes all enzymes. So he knowningly misleading the Muslims regarding foods, he has no degree in food science, he never worked in a food company, he even do not know how cheese is made and what are its hidden component. So he is unqualified to suggest any thing regarding foods about its Halal status.
Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed
Muslim Consumer Group for Food Products
www.muslimconsumergroup.com
Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakatuh;
Shaykh Yasir, Jazaak Allaahu Khayran for your research. Firstly we apologize to you for the apparent harshness in the words of our brothers, it is just their gheerah over the deen that at times gets the best of them, may Allaah reward them and you.I am actually taking the time to preamble this message with whatever I can muster of manners for two main reasons. The first is that this is your most basic right as our brother in Islam and educator. The second is that I do not simply want to post something to be the one that stooped the shaykh, rather I actually would very much appreciate an answer to my inquiry, and I apologize for asking the question in public, but I do not have access to your email address. Anyhow, Bismillaah...
Jazaak Allaahu Khayran again for the time taken out to elaborate on the issue, and even in the end if Dorritos is to be curbed, we still have benefitted a great deal from the article in regards to cheeses, istihlak, and istahala. My question is in regards to the justification by quantity of porcine enzyme or insignificant presence of it in cheese. Shaykh, from what I was taught is that the matter of the ratios of impurities to purities could not be used as an analogy with all matters, and especially not foods. The famous fiqh principle regarding 2 qullas or more of water do not carry impurities applies to matters of tahaarah and najaasah. For example, Wine's impermissibility is not dependent upon its quantity or concentration in the liquid. As soon as knowledge comes to us that it contains an intoxicant, even a little of it is haraam. Would not the same matter be for pork, in the sense that we have attained knowledge, and I just had a phonecall with Frito Lay, and they are very clear to tell you that they use pork enzymes in the production of their cheese?
May Allah reward you and benefit us with your answer insha Allaah. Jazaak Allaahu Khayran again, and may Allah increase us and you in knowledge and sincerity. Aameen. Aameen. Aameen.
I have to agree with Br. Rasheed... Yasir Qadhi is not a qualified biochemist, or any other chemistry/organic chemistry/micro biological field. He has no idea what he is dealing with here... he is misleading the Doritos/Cheetos addicts, by telling them what they want to hear. Yes, Yasir Qadhi has Islamic knowledge... but that doesnt mean he knows the science behind chemical reactions/changes. If I asked a Scientist to make a ruling/fatwah... that would NOT be acceptable.
Assalamu allakum wa rahmatuh Allahi wa barakatuh,
It seems as if this comment is specifically not Doritos-related, but this just happens to be the practical place to put it. With all my due respect I think we should respect our sheikhs/ulama/scholars. If we disagree with something they say then there is a polite way to ask them what they meant. Or, if it is a quetion of knowledge relating to a field which is not directly Islamic (or directly Islamic- if it happens to be a different opinion), then there is, similarly, a way to let them know what we have learned and share our knowledge with them in the same way they so-generously share theirs.
I am not a person with as much Islamic knowledge as a sheikh, nor a person who knows much about how food is changed or made, but I know that good manners and Ta'aush are important in Islam; and from what I understand, even obligatory. So I kindly ask that there be some respect for Br. Qadhi (after all, he is a follower of the Prophets (RAA) and how shameful on us would it be to harm any of them with our harsh words), and if we know about a topic more than the average person then maybe we can contact Br. Qadhi about it and ask him what he thinks.
I pray that my email has not insulted anyone and I'm sorry in advance if it has.
And Jazakumullahu kul Kheir for your interest in Islam.
The Frito Lay website has a list of all their products that do not contain pork. The link below will be of great help:
http://www.fritolay.com/fl/flstore/cgi-bin/ProdDetEv_Cat_351852_NavRoot_361689_ProdID_564690.htm
In my humble opinion, Yaseer Qadhi t need NOT be a food technologist to comment on cheese.
Because, people have been making cheese for centuries, Yasir Qadhi even quoted a hadith about cheese indicating that cheese was quite known even at the time prophet (SAWS).
Cheese was there during Prophets time, Food technoligists weren't!
This is the problem with people having lack of knowledge of food science. Cheese is not made as art but science and you have to know each step of processing, the hidden ingredients added at each step. Presence of good bacteria was discovered recently. In old days the only thing you have to do make cheese is to curd milk and drain the leftover water(Whey) and then age it to make cheese.
Many Muslims even do not know that gelatin(pork or beef) is used during apple juice processing which is a hidden ingredient.
So please do not blindly eat everything which taste good and have good appearnce, you may be eating Haram hidden ingredients in the food. This is the reason we are educating Muslims since 1991 to avoid Haram foods. It is our resonsibility to make sure everything is Halal.
Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed
this is in response to the comment farhan left: Farhan said...
I have to agree with Br. Rasheed... Yasir Qadhi is not a qualified biochemist, or any other chemistry/organic chemistry/micro biological field. He has no idea what he is dealing with here... he is misleading the Doritos/Cheetos addicts, by telling them what they want to hear. Yes, Yasir Qadhi has Islamic knowledge... but that doesnt mean he knows the science behind chemical reactions/changes. If I asked a Scientist to make a ruling/fatwah... that would NOT be acceptable.
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ALL i'd like to say is actually...he is a chemical engineer. so before you go on to making accusatory statements such as: "Yes, Yasir Qadhi has Islamic knowledge... but that doesnt mean he knows the science behind chemical reactions/changes." Why dont you go learn a few facts about him and then come back with at least a half decent response.
Ignorance is so widespread amongst us that while people may be entitled to their own opinion, they are not entitled to degrade another or make their knowledge seem worthless...much less degrading a sheikh.
Nonetheless, if this is what almaghrib has turned into, a bunch of ultra ultra sensitive extremist thought-processors, im glad i got out before getting caught too deep!
Many Muslims know that a religious scholar or Shaik will not guide them to eat Halal foods because he lacks inside story how foods or ingredients are made.
I have a question to every one who support Shaik Qadhi,does shaik knows that pork gelatin is used as a filtering agent in apple juice processing. The ingredients statement of apple juice says 100% apple juice but no mention of pork gelatin because FDA is allowed manufacturer not to mention processing aid ingredients or hidden ingredients under ingredients statement. Without this knowledge how could he recommend Muslim what to eat or what not eat.
If you look the sylabus of chmemical engineering at any university, non of them has food science course except organic chemistry. A chemical engineer is not equal to a food technologist.I worked with chemical engineers, their job is to calculate heat transferand cooling on food processing equipments, they do not know food formulation.
Shaik Qadhi went to a cheese plant but he was not allowed to go to micro lab where all the secret of starter culture bacteria, media and rennet formulation are kept. All dairy products are based on dairy microbiology not chemical engineering.
Learning few scientific facts from books does not make Shaik to recommends Doritos to Muslim. A person who has educated in food science and worked in food industry has more knowledge than shaik Qadhi.
Shaik Qadhi has involved in a self inflicted sitaution. When he does not have knowledge, he should have consulted a experienced food scientist and find about every thing regarding Doritos processing before write an article on it.
Everybody has respect for Shaik Qadhi's knowledge on Islam.
Yes, many Muslims including me are right that Shaik Qadhi is not qualified to recmmend Doritos to Muslims. We are not extremists but telling the truth, I know telling the truth hurt others but that is a fact of life.
Br Rasheedahmed, i totally agree with you. jazakallah for clearing the misunderstanding created by a fellow muslim brother. there are some people who have no knowledge or experience about certain topics, and try to give fatwah on them. in my opinion, people should only give rulings about the subjects they are specialized or educated in.
Jazakallah.
Salam-u-alaikum,
Jazakullah Bro. Yasir for your lecture, but i am going to strongly disagree with you. As a student, literraly a studnet, i'm 14 and i have done some research on my own of this topic. I was teaching a class over the summer and we had a party at the end, i reffered to my students to NOT bring dorritos or cheetos, both containing pork enzymes, i have to agree with another brother who posted saying there are other qualifications to make it halal, and just becuase the cheese is halal does not consider it to make the whole content halal. Please if you can do more research and then spread the knowlegde.I understand which perspective you are coming from, but please if you can correct your mistake, jazakullah!
And please all the other bros and sisters out there lets please be respectful of all our scholars and ulamas. JZK!
Salam
Hello brothers,
It amazes me about all the arguments about halal or haram when the Quran explains it so clearly.
6:145 Say, " I do not find in the revelations given to me any food that is prohibited for any eater except: (1) carrion, (2) running blood, (3)the meat of pigs, for it is contaminated, and (4) the meat of animals blasphemously dedicated to other than GOD."If one is forced (to eat these) without being deliberate or malicious, then your Lord is Forgiver, Most Meciful.
also 2:173, 5:3-5
Assalam-u-Alaikum,
I have personally attended a few of Sh. Qadhi's khutbas. I have been nothing but moved by his speech. His khutba on the Day of Judgement still rings in my ears. Few questions we need to ask ourselves is about the Sheikh's comments
1. Would the Sheikh deliberately misguide us?
2. Is he making profit out of his statement?
3. Does he realize his responsibility as a leader of the community before making such statements.
4. Is he afraid of Allah(swt) before declaring something halal or Haram?
I am sure none of us has answers for these questions that would put the Sheikh in a negative light.
I appreciate the brothers and sisters who are meticulous in what they eat. It really requires great patience. But Sh. Qadhi's comments comes from the vast knowledge he has as a chemical engineer and as a Sheikh.
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