Aisle guide
Bakery
Supermarket bread is where E471 and DATEM hide. The code is not the ruling — the fat is. A vegan statement or a recognised halal mark settles it; the E-number does not.
Two-minute bakery check
- Find the emulsifier. E471, E472, E472e (DATEM), E481, E422.
- Ask the fat. Plant oil or animal? The code will not say.
- L-cysteine (E920) is a dough improver with its own hair-vs-fermentation split — open that row.
-
Source-dependentE471
Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
The emulsifier in bread, ice cream, margarine and peanut butter. The same E-number covers palm-oil production and pig-fat production, and food law doe…
-
Source-dependentE472
E472 Various Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids
Mushbooh, Halal if it is from plant fat, Haraam if it is from pork fat
-
Source-dependentE472e
DATEM (diacetyltartaric esters of mono- and diglycerides)
A bakery emulsifier in the E472 family. Halal when the mono- and diglycerides are from plant oil; haram from pork fat. The E-number does not tell you …
-
Source-dependentE472a
Acetic acid esters of mono- and diglycerides
E472a is the acetic-acid ester of mono- and diglycerides. Halal when those glycerides are from plant oil; haram from pork fat. Inherits the parent E47…
-
Source-dependentE472b
Lactic acid esters of mono- and diglycerides
E472b is the lactic-acid ester of mono- and diglycerides (lactem). Halal from plant oil; haram from pork fat. Inherits the parent E472 condition — not…
-
Source-dependentE472c
Citric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides
E472c is the citric-acid ester of mono- and diglycerides (citrem). Halal from plant oil; haram from pork fat. Inherits the parent E472 condition — not…
-
Source-dependentE481
E481 Sodium Stearoyl-2- Lactylate
Mushbooh, Halal if it is from plant fat, Haraam if it is from pork fat
-
Source-dependentE920
L-Cysteine
The additive that makes commercial bread dough workable. Its cheapest historical source was human hair — which is why this otherwise obscure amino aci…
-
Source-dependentE441
Gelatin
The single most important ingredient to check in processed food. Gelatin is a protein boiled from animal skin, bones and connective tissue — and in We…
-
Source-dependentE422
Glycerin (glycerol)
A sweet humectant that keeps foods moist. The molecule is identical whether it came from palm oil or pig fat — which is exactly why the source has to …
-
Source-dependentE322
Lecithin
One of the most common emulsifiers in chocolate and baked goods. Commercial lecithin is overwhelmingly soy or sunflower; the label rarely needs chasin…
-
Source-dependentE479b
Thermally oxidised soya bean oil interacted with mono- and diglycerides
A tin-grease / bakery release agent: soya oil reacted with mono- and diglycerides. The soya oil is plant; the mono- and diglycerides follow the E471 f…
Reference information, not a fatwa. See the methodology.