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Aisle guide
Chocolate and confectionery
Cocoa butter and cocoa powder are plant. The bar still has to survive E471, lecithin source, vanilla extract, and on filled sweets gelatin, carmine or shellac.
Two-minute chocolate check
- Plain dark first. Cocoa, sugar, vanilla bean, plant lecithin. Still check E471 if it is on the pack.
- Then the emulsifier and flavour. E471 and glycerin are source-dependent. Vanilla extract has a cited alcohol-carrier disagreement.
- Then fillings and coatings. Gummy centres and shiny shells bring gelatin, carmine and shellac back onto the label.
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Halal
Chocolate
Chocolate: Classified halal as a grain/plant-based ingredient per this list; check any parenthetical source condition noted.
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Halal
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa Butter: Solid fat extracted from cocoa beans; melts near body temperature. Plant-derived; halal.
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Halal
Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Powder: Classified halal as a grain/plant-based ingredient per this list; check any parenthetical source condition noted.
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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Disputed
Vanilla extract
Real vanilla extract is vanilla beans steeped in alcohol and water. Whether that alcohol carrier matters is one of the most genuinely contested questi…
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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…
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DisputedE120
Carmine (cochineal)
A red dye crushed from cochineal insects. The majority of scholars and most certifiers rule it haram; a minority permit it. This is a genuine disagree…
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DisputedE904
Shellac
The shine on chocolate raisins, jelly beans and coated tablets comes from a resin secreted by the lac insect. Whether that makes it haram is a live di…
A procedure for reading a pack - not a product certification and not a fatwa. See the methodology.