Lucky for us chocolate-obsessed Muslims, our beloved treat is halal! Or rather, it can be halal.
Chocolate is made from seeds sourced from the cacao tree, or as the Latin put it, Theobroma cacao — meaning ‘food of the gods.’ This clearly shows that chocolate is a plant-based food and thus is halal.
However, when you consider the chocolate-making process and what other ingredients go into the final product, knowing whether or not a chocolate bar is halal gets a little more complicated.
While some chocolate brands, like KitKat, clearly list their ingredients or state the halal status of their product on its packaging, some others might be a bit more deceptive in their labelling.
This article will discuss some common haram chocolate additives, halal chocolate brands, their products, and the best halal chocolate alternative on the market.
So, whether you want information on where to get halal chocolate bars or you want an even healthier alternative to chocolates, make sure to read on till the end of this article.
What makes chocolate haram?
Several companies label their chocolate as halal, eliminating the guessing game. Regardless, the most straightforward approach to determine if the chocolate you’re considering is halal is to read the ingredients list.
Aside from reading the label, it’s always a good idea to stick with trusted brands. Many smaller brands use fillers and lower-quality ingredients when processing their chocolates.
While this doesn’t imply their chocolate isn’t halal, high-quality businesses typically take greater care in sourcing, producing, and labelling their chocolate.
However, there are three primary ingredients to keep an eye out for when looking for halal chocolate.
Bacon
Unfortunately for us, Muslim chocolate lovers, bacon has made its way into our delight.
Bacon is smoked, or salted meat typically made from the back or belly of pigs — and is haram given its swine origin.
So, if you buy chocolate that is more than just a standard bar of the good stuff, it is advisable to examine the ingredients or check for halal certification.
Whey Powder
We covered an entire article on the halal status of whey protein.
Whey is a whole protein source, which means it contains sufficient levels of all nine essential amino acids. It is a product of the dairy industry present in most milk chocolate products.
Whey is gotten from pepsin — an enzyme most companies in the food industry source from the stomach of pigs. It is often used as a chocolate filler instead of the more expensive cocoa-based alternatives.
E120
E120 is a natural bright crimson dye gotten from Dactylopius coccus or, as it’s commonly called, the cochineal beetle. It is commonly used in M&M’s.
To produce E120, the beetles are cooked in an ammonia or sodium carbonate solution. The extract is treated with alum after the insoluble residue has been separated to precipitate the red solid.
According to IslamQA, E120 is not halal because of the process the beetle goes through before achieving the final product.
Halal Chocolate Brands
Many companies produce both halal and non-halal chocolate. However, some businesses produce purely halal products, most times accidentally.
Here is a list of the best accidental and intentional halal chocolate companies.
- Nestle
- Charm School Chocolates
- Dear Coco
- Go Max Go Foods
- Green and Black’s
- LuLu’s Chocolate
- Manifest Chocolates
- Missionary Chocolates
- Raaka Chocolate
- Raw Chocolate Company
- Rescue Chocolate
- Wei of Chocolate
Halal Chocolates
Halal chocolates include:
- Snickers
- Mars
- Bounty
- KitKat
- Twix
- Trader Joe’s chocolate chips
- Ritter Sport chocolate Mint and Marzipan
- Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate
- Organic Equal Exchange Chocolate
- Fannie May’s chocolate bars
- Endangered Species Dark Chocolate
- Plamil So Free Organic Chocolate
- Terra Nostra Rice Milk Choco Bars
- Sjaaks Organic Chocolates
- Crosstown yuzu & passion fruit chocolate
- Happi plain white oat milk chocolate
- Tony’s chocolonely dark almond sea salt
- HiP salty pretzel oat milk chocolate
- Divine smooth dark chocolate with raspberries
- Willie’s Cacao pistachio & date 100% dark chocolate
- ChOC organic Peruvian cacao dark chocolate
Halal Chocolate Alternatives
If you want to swap chocolates for another healthy, halal-certified treat, Chewwies may do the trick.
Chewwies is one of the few brands dedicated to producing gummies suitable for a vegan, vegetarian, halal, and kosher diet.
All of our products are free from sugar, gelatine, alcohol, gluten, dairy, allergens, artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.
FAQ
What makes chocolate halal?
Chocolate is halal if it doesn't contain any prohibited ingredients according to Islamic law. Mostly it is made of plant-derived ingredients and in that case, it is halal.
How can you tell if chocolate is halal?
The only way you can tell if a chocolate is halal is to read the label and check all the ingredients.
What chocolates are haram?
Chocolates that contain bacon and whey protein which is made of milk processed with pepsin or E120 red colouring are haram.