Is this food halal?

Bahlsen is halal. HQC — Halal Quality Control, the Netherlands-based certifier — lists Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG on its client register with certified production at Barsinghausen, Berlin and Skawina in Poland, the sites that make Pick Up!, Leibniz and Choco Leibniz. The ingredient lists support it: Pick Up! Choco & Milk is wheat flour, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, palm oil, milk powders, glucose syrup, clarified butter, hazelnuts, salt, soya lecithin, whey, raising agents, flavouring, wheat starch, citric acid and egg yolk — no E471, no gelatine, no alcohol. The certification is site-level; a Bahlsen product from another site or a seasonal line with liqueur flavouring should be checked on its own pack.

No Charlie Bigham's meat dish is halal. The company's own FAQ says its chicken is reared in the UK and the Netherlands under Red Tractor farm-assurance schemes, its beef is British and its lamb is from New Zealand, Britain and Ireland — with no mention of halal slaughter anywhere — and it confirms that wine is used in numerous recipes. Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma and the rest of the meat range are therefore not halal. The vegetarian dishes (Roasted Vegetable Lasagne, Macaroni Cheese) avoid the slaughter question but must be read for wine and for animal rennet in the cheese.

Cool Whip is Mushbooh. The Original whipped topping lists water, corn syrups, hydrogenated coconut and palm kernel oil, skim milk, light cream, sodium caseinate, flavours, gums, modified starch, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, sodium polyphosphate and beta carotene — no gelatine and no animal fat. But polysorbate 60 (E435) and sorbitan monostearate (E491) are made from fatty acids that can be animal- or plant-derived, Kraft Heinz does not disclose which, and there is no halal certification for any Cool Whip variety.

Din Tai Fung is a pork restaurant almost everywhere it operates: the signature pork xiao long bao, pork chop fried rice and pork wontons define the menu, and no Din Tai Fung in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, the US or the UK holds halal certification. Two exceptions exist. Malaysia's 'DIN by Din Tai Fung' at Suria KLCC is the group's first pork-free restaurant — chicken and seafood recipes, but no JAKIM certification because it serves beer and wine. The Dubai branch serves halal meat under UAE law and is reported halal by diners. Everywhere else, assume not halal.

Haliborange is Varies by format. The Softies — Kids Multivitamin Fruit Softies, Omega-3 Softies, Omega-3 & Multivitamin Softies — list bovine gelatine as the base and carmine (E120) as a colour; the brand itself confirms it uses bovine gelatine in most products and pectin only in its vegan and vegetarian lines. Bovine gelatine with no halal-slaughter statement is Mushbooh, and carmine is haram under the majority view, so the Softies are not halal. Haliborange's liquid cod liver oil, vitamin syrups and the pectin-based vegan/vegetarian ranges contain no gelatine. Check the format: liquid or pectin — fine; softie or softgel — not.

Kopiko coffee candy is halal. It is made by PT Mayora Indah in Indonesia, where the product carries MUI halal certification and prints the halal logo on the pack, and its ingredients — sugar, glucose syrup, palm and/or coconut oil, coffee extract, butter, soy lecithin (E322), caramel colour (E150d), salt and coffee flavour — contain nothing animal-derived beyond dairy butter. The one thing to check is that the pack in your hand is the Indonesian-made product with the halal logo, since Kopiko is now packed for several export markets.