Is Ajinomoto Halal?

Is Ajinomoto Halal?

It depends which country’s packet you are holding, and the gap between markets is wider than most people expect.

Indonesia — certified. PT Ajinomoto Indonesia states that all of its products are halal-certified by BPJPH, the Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Produk Halal, which is the Indonesian state halal authority that took over certificate issuance from LPPOM MUI. The company also says it runs a Halal Assurance System across its factories referenced to LPPOM MUI rules. Its Masako bouillon won an LPPOM MUI Halal Award in 2023.

Malaysia — certified. Ajinomoto Malaysia has held JAKIM certification since 1965, and JAKIM named it the best Malaysian halal certificate holder in the large industry category in November 2021. A new certified plant opened at Bandar Enstek in December 2022.

Philippines — explicitly not certified. This is the finding that matters most, because it is a direct manufacturer statement and it contradicts what most readers assume. Ajinomoto Philippines says on its own quality assurance page: “Our products are not Halal Certified. Although not Halal certified, the manufacturing, packaging and storage of these products are in accordance with the Good Manufacturing Practice.” And specifically of the MSG: “Our AJI-NO-MOTO Umami Seasoning or Monosodium Glutamate product is not Halal certified, but it does not contain alcohol and any animal substances or its derivatives.”

So “Ajinomoto is halal certified” is true in two markets and false in a third. Read the packet, not the brand.

The 2001 Pork Enzyme Case, Accurately

This is the reason the brand still gets searched, and it is usually told wrong. Here is what actually happened, with dates.

In September 2000, LPPOM and the Indonesian Ulema Council began an audit of PT Ajinomoto Indonesia and found the company had substituted bactosoytone, which is pork-derived, for polypeptone, which is beef-derived. It did so for cost reasons.

The mechanism matters. Bactosoytone is a peptone used as the nutrient medium to grow the bacteria that produce the enzymes used in MSG fermentation. It was not an ingredient in the MSG. It was upstream of it. Descriptions of the MSG being “contaminated with pork fat” are wrong.

In early January 2001 the case broke publicly. The Indonesian health ministry ordered a recall of 3,000 tonnes and gave the company three weeks. Its East Java factory and warehouses were sealed, a planned 137 million dollar investment was cancelled, and seven executives including the president director were detained and later released. The Ulema Council’s head explained the three-month delay in going public by saying it “did not want to scare the public until it got the facts right.”

By late January 2001 the company had recalled 2,750 tonnes. On 20 February 2001 the Ulema Council declared the reformulated product halal, its wording being that “the new MSG flavour enhancer, which uses ‘mameno’ as supporting material, is declared being ‘halal’.” Mameno is soybean-derived. The previously recalled product remained classified as haram. Ajinomoto issued a public apology.

Two corrections worth carrying: the case was 2000 to 2001, not 1996, and the February 2001 decision is reported as a ruling of a council meeting rather than a formal numbered fatwa.

What Certification Covers

In Indonesia the company states the certification covers all products, not MSG alone, which brings in Masako bouillon and the Sajiku seasoning mixes. In Malaysia coverage began with the MSG plant and now spans the wider seasoning range.

Elsewhere there is nothing to report in either direction. We found no manufacturer or certifier statement for Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, the United States or the EU. The NPO Japan Halal Association is a JAKIM-recognised Japanese certifier, but Ajinomoto does not appear on its certified-company list, so Japanese-domestic certification should not be assumed.

Market Summary

Market	Certifier	Status
Indonesia	BPJPH (state authority), Halal Assurance System per LPPOM MUI	Halal
Malaysia	JAKIM, since 1965	Halal
Philippines	None — company states products are not certified	Mushbooh
Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, US, EU	No evidence found	Check the pack

Key E-Codes

E-code	Name	Status	Notes
E621	Monosodium glutamate	Varies by market	Fermented, not animal-derived in itself. The 2001 case concerned the bacterial growth medium, not the MSG

What We Could Not Confirm

• Certificate numbers for either the BPJPH or the JAKIM certification. Neither is published on the pages we read.
• Whether the February 2001 ruling was a formal numbered fatwa. It is reported as a council decision, and we describe it that way.
• A recent “pork savor” concern. Ajinomoto Indonesia published a clarification page headed with that phrase, but its text does not explain what the issue was or when it arose. Unresolved.
• Any market outside Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

How we reached this verdict

We checked the following Tier-1 sources before publishing:

• Manufacturer: Ajinomoto Indonesia’s own statements on BPJPH certification and its Halal Assurance System. Ajinomoto Malaysia’s own press release on the JAKIM award and the 1965 certification date. Ajinomoto Philippines’ own quality assurance page, quoted above.
• Certifiers: BPJPH and JAKIM as named by the company. The NPO Japan Halal Association’s published certified-company list, on which Ajinomoto does not appear.
• The 2001 case: three dated contemporaneous trade-press reports from January and February 2001, covering the audit, the recall volumes and the Ulema Council’s ruling wording.
• Sunni fatwa on MSG: Monosodium glutamate produced by bacterial fermentation on a plant-based medium is halal. The ruling turns on the medium and the enzymes, which is exactly what the 2001 case was about.

Madhab note

The four Sunni madhabs agree on the principle and the market split does the rest.

• All four schools: Where a state or recognised certifier has audited the supply chain, as in Indonesia and Malaysia, the product is Halal.
• All four schools: A pork-derived growth medium would render the product impermissible, which is why the 2001 finding mattered and why its replacement with a soy-derived medium resolved it.
• Hanafi / Maliki / Shafi’i: In an uncertified market such as the Philippines, the manufacturer’s own statement that the MSG contains no alcohol and no animal substances is treated as meaningful disclosure, leaving it Mushbooh-leaning rather than prohibited.
• Hanbali and HMC-strict view: Without certification the product is Mushbooh regardless of the company’s assurance.

The lesson this brand teaches is about fermentation generally. What grows the bacteria can decide the ruling, and it never appears on the label.