Nutritional supplements for halal and kosher consumers: religious-based dietary laws impact ingredient options for supplement manufacturers. An explanation of basic considerations for these products can assist food manufacturers as well

Prepared Foods, Jan, 2005 by Mian N. Riaz, Joe. M. Regenstein

Food consumed by Muslims meets the Islamic dietary code and is called halal food. Similarly, food consumed by Jews is called kosher food. Muslims use two major terms to describe food, halal and haram. Halal means permitted or lawful, and haram means forbidden or unlawful. Kosher means the food is fit or proper for consumption by Jewish consumers, while "traif" means it is not kosher. Although kosher and halal requirements are similar, there are significant differences between the two.

Supplements and Nutraceuticals

In the past several decades, the number of supplements available to consumers through specialty stores, supermarkets and especially through multi-level marketing has seen tremendous growth worldwide. The line between pharmaceuticals (products that heal) and nutraceuticals (products that help maintain well-being) are becoming blurred. The purpose of this article is not to determine the effectiveness of these products, but to reflect on their compositions and determine if any of the components present a problem for the Muslim and Jewish consumers.

Although both the Islamic and Jewish traditions allow one to consume a religiously questionable product as a medicine under compulsion, consumers generally avoid knowingly taking anything that is religiously doubtful. For example, some people may take a prescription medicine in a potentially prohibited gelatin capsule. Gelatin capsules, unless certified halal and/or kosher or labeled bovine, are generally made of pork gelatin. Muslim consumers consider pork gelatin haram, and it is unacceptable to most Orthodox Jewish consumers as well.

Medicine that is used to cure a disease or to help overcome illness is considered exempt from halal food regulations.

Prescription drugs generally do not have alternative products available to replace a prescribed drug. If a drug is available in capsule form only, one is obligated to take it. However, multivitamins and other dietary supplements are not normally taken to cure serious illness, but to improve one's health. Moreover, there are many alternative forms of multivitamins such as tablets, liquids, vegetable capsules, etc., so one does not have to take vitamins in gelatin capsules.

Many Muslim consumers try to purchase alcohol-free products (e.g., cough syrups). They also may ask the pharmacist for tablets rather than gelatin capsules. Jewish consumers may be concerned about the source of the alcohol, especially as more grape-derived and baking-derived alcohols are used. For Passover, kosher consumers also will want to avoid corn and grain alcohols.

General guidelines for the production of nutritional supplements are similar to those for producing other food products. Dietary supplements often are composed of botanicals and plant extracts. It is the animal-derived ingredients one has to avoid in formulating the supplements. The botanical elements have been used in various cultures and traditions for centuries--such as ginseng in Chinese culture, black seed in the Islamic tradition, asphoetida in India and many other botanicals from other cultures and historical traditions.

Ingredients to Watch

Ingredient databases often are comprised of thousands of entries. Companies may use several thousand different ingredients in a given time period. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe the halal and kosher status of every ingredient used in this industry. Only some of the ingredients with potential concern for halal and kosher standing, as well as the type of products in which they may be used, are discussed.

* Flavors and colorants may have hidden alcohol or ingredients from haram or traif animal origin, like civet oil, in the formulations.

* Beta-carotene ingredients often use small quantities of gelatin to encapsulate the beta-carotene and to protect its color and other characteristics. Some companies use fish gelatin for encapsulation, which makes the product halal as well as kosher. Manufacturers also may use halal or kosher bovine gelatin or plant gums as encapsulating materials.

* Gelatin is very commonly used to make capsules, both softgel and two-piece hard shell. Halal gelatin, cellulose or starch can be used instead of porcine gelatin. Kosher-certified gelatin (bovine and fish) also is available. However, gelatin-free products made from vegetable materials could be halal, kosher as well as vegetarian (vegan)--all at the same time.

* Stearates from animal sources may be used as free-flow agents in powders, or tableting aids in tablets. For halal and kosher products, manufacturers can use stearates obtained from plant sources.

* Tweens (a series of synthetic emulsifiers) are sometimes used to coat and polish tablets. Vegetable-derived tweens should be used in halal and kosher products.

* Glycerin is used in the manufacture of capsules and other products. Glycerin of plant origin can be kosher and halal-suitable for such applications.

Types of Products

Nutritional food products come in many physical forms, such as powders, liquids, tablets, one-piece capsules (softshell) and two-piece capsules (hard-shell). Nutraceutical ingredients also may be incorporated into food matrices such as juices, snack bars or energy drinks.