Halal Brand Guide

Young's scampi is cleaner than most breaded seafood: its own specification sheet shows langoustine, wheat, rapeseed oil and starches, with no alcohol, no animal fat and no gelatine. Young's holds no halal certification, and its battered lines are a separate question we have not verified.

United Kingdom · Breaded scampi, Frozen fish

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.

Germany · Pick Up! Choco, Pick Up! Choco & Milk

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.

United Kingdom · Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma

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.

United States · Original Whipped Topping, Extra Creamy

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.

Taiwan · Restaurant chain, Xiao long bao

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.

United Kingdom · Kids Multivitamin Softies, Omega-3 Softies

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.

Indonesia · Coffee candy, Cappuccino candy

Lay's halal status is decided by the country on the back of the bag, not the logo on the front. In the US, Frito-Lay holds no halal certification and publishes a list of products made without porcine enzymes — Lay's Classic (potatoes, oil, salt) has no enzyme question, but cheese-seasoned flavours must be checked against the current list. Lay's made in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia is manufactured at local PepsiCo facilities under local halal certification. In the UK the brand is sold as Walkers, which has its own verdict. Turkish-made Lay's is pork-free but uncertified.

United States · Potato chips, Kettle Cooked

Maille is a brand with two Dijon recipes under nearly the same name. The standard Dijon Originale jar (US and UK retail) contains water, mustard seeds, distilled vinegar, salt, citric acid and a metabisulphite preservative — no wine, halal by composition. 'Dijon Originale Mustard with White Wine', sold from Maille's pumps and in some European jars, contains 20% white wine, and the Chablis white wine and black truffle lines are wine-based by design. Read the ingredient line for 'white wine' / 'vin blanc'; no Maille product is halal-certified.

France · Dijon Originale, Dijon Originale with White Wine

Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks is Mushbooh. The chain states it serves no pork, no beef and no lard, and it once held JAKIM halal certification in Malaysia — but the certificates (around 2014 and March 2021) expired and were not renewed, and an April 2026 check of JAKIM's e-Halal portal found no active certificate. Individual outlets have been reported as certified (the KLIA2 branch), which is why readers see conflicting answers. In Singapore, most outlets are not on the MUIS register. Without current certification, the supply chain and preparation are unverified.

Taiwan · XXL crispy chicken, Oyster mee sua

Red Meat Halal is halal. Its lamb, goat and beef are certified by HMS (Halal Monitoring Services) under the Shariah Board of America, which requires hand-slaughtered zabiha and prohibits mechanical slaughter.

United States · Fresh halal lamb, Fresh halal goat

Chicago Town's cheese-only pizzas (like Loaded Cheese, Large) contain no meat and no gelatine, with a 'Suitable for Vegetarians' label that confirms plant-derived E472e. But Chicago Town is owned by Dr. Oetker UK and made at the same Leyland facility as Dr. Oetker's confirmed pork pepperoni pizzas — the same shared-facility Mushbooh verdict already published for Dr. Oetker's own vegetarian range applies here. Meat-topped Chicago Town pizzas should be treated with the same pork-pepperoni caution as Dr. Oetker's meat range until checked individually.

United Kingdom · Frozen pizza, Deep dish pizza