Is Woolworths Biscoff Cheesecake Halal? Baked, Not Gelatine-Set (2026)

Biscoff cheesecake has become one of those desserts you’ll find both homemade and on a supermarket shelf — and the two versions aren’t always made the same way. Woolworths Australia’s version settles the question cleanly.

The direct verdict: halal on ingredients. This is a baked, egg-set cheesecake — no gelatine anywhere in the formulation.

Full Ingredient List

Neufchâtel cheese (26%) — milk, cream, salt, stabilisers (410, 412), starter culture; Biscoff spread (19%) — Biscoff biscuits, rapeseed oil, sugar, lecithin (soy), citric acid; Biscoff crumble (13–16%) — wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils (palm, rapeseed), candy sugar syrup, raising agent (sodium hydrogen carbonate, 500), soy flour, salt, cinnamon; sugar; egg; cream; water; white chocolate (4%) — sugar, milk solids, cocoa butter, emulsifier (lecithin (soy), 476), natural flavour; butter; Biscoff biscuit (0.7%); flour.

Allergens: egg, gluten, milk, soy, wheat. May contain peanuts and pistachio.

Why “Baked” Matters Here

This is the detail that resolves the whole question. Plenty of Biscoff cheesecake recipes — the no-bake, fridge-set style you’ll find all over food blogs and cafés — use gelatine to firm up the filling without an oven. Woolworths’ version isn’t that kind of cheesecake. It’s baked and set with egg, the traditional New York-cheesecake method, which is why gelatine never enters the ingredient list at all. If you’re checking a different Biscoff cheesecake — homemade, from a café, or a different retailer — don’t assume the same applies; check whether it’s baked or no-bake first.

The E-Numbers, One by One

410 (locust bean gum) and 412 (guar gum) — both plant-derived thickening/stabilising gums, halal, no ambiguity.

476 (polyglycerol polyricinoleate, PGPR) — used in the white chocolate component to reduce viscosity. Almost universally manufactured from castor oil (a plant source) in commercial use; no animal-source variant is in common circulation. Halal.

500 (sodium bicarbonate) — a mineral raising agent in the biscuit crumble. Halal, no ambiguity.

Every emulsifier and lecithin in the product is specified as soy-derived — plant-based, halal.

The Biscoff Component

Lotus Biscoff spread and biscuits — the flavour component running through this whole dessert — are made from wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils, soy lecithin, raising agents, cinnamon, and citric acid. Nothing there raises a halal flag. Lotus Bakeries doesn’t hold third-party halal certification for the base Biscoff product, but it’s widely treated as acceptable by halal consumers on an ingredient-analysis basis, and nothing in this cheesecake’s use of it changes that assessment.

Which Retailer, Which Market

This is a Woolworths Australia product specifically — confirmed through Australian retailer listings and product codes. Woolworths South Africa (a completely separate company sharing only the name) doesn’t appear to stock a matching product. If you’re in South Africa checking Woolworths Food’s own-brand desserts, this verdict doesn’t transfer — check the specific SA product on its own label.

Summary

Question	Answer
Does it contain gelatine?	No — baked and egg-set, not gelatine-set
Does it contain alcohol?	No
Are the E-numbers a concern?	No — all plant or mineral-derived
Which Woolworths sells it?	Australia, not South Africa
Is it halal-certified?	No — halal on ingredients, uncertified

Look up any additive in the E-codes database.

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How we reached this verdict

We checked the following Tier-1 sources before publishing this verdict:

• Manufacturer statements: Woolworths Australia’s own product listings (cross-referenced across two related product codes) and Open Food Facts, which agreed closely on the ingredient list and confirmed the product as a baked, not no-bake, cheesecake.
• Halal certification bodies (HMC, HFA, JAKIM, MUI): no certified-establishment listing exists for this product.
• Sunni fatwa scholarship across the four madhabs:
  • Hanafi-leaning bodies: IslamQA Hanafi, Darul Iftaa Birmingham, AskImam.org, Daruliftaa.com (Mufti Taqi Usmani), Wifaqul Ulama, Darul Iftaa New York.
  • Shafi’i / Maliki-leaning bodies: NU (Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia), Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah (Egypt), e-fatwa.com (UAE), al-Azhar.
  • Hanbali / Saudi-Salafi-leaning bodies: Saudi Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research, IslamQA Saudi.

Madhab note

The four Sunni madhabs broadly converge on the rules applied in this guide:

• Plant-derived stabilisers and gums (410, 412) — Halal across all four madhabs.
• PGPR (476) — Halal across all four madhabs when castor-oil-derived, as is standard commercial practice; no animal-source variant identified.
• Egg-set desserts without gelatine — no animal-tissue question applies at all; halal by default across all four madhabs, subject only to the other ingredients in the formulation being clean, as they are here.

If your madhab differs on a specific ruling, the relevant section above flags the school-specific position. For binding rulings on borderline products, consult a competent scholar in your tradition.