Ingredient Guide

Also: ethanol, wine, beer, spirits, liquor

Alcoholic drinks (beer, wine, spirits, liqueurs, hard seltzer, hard cider, sake, mead) and ethanol used as an intoxicant. Also present in cocktail sauces, some tiramisu, rum cakes, brandy chocolates, cooking wines, and vanilla extract (see the separate entry).

Any intoxicating drink is not permitted, including in cooking - cooking does not fully remove alcohol. Watch for alcohol hidden under names like "distilled alcohol", "grain alcohol", "ethanol", "SD alcohol", "denatured alcohol", "brandy", or "champagne" in ingredient lists. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid all these; use synthetic vanillin, alcohol-free vanilla flavour, or a non-alcohol substitute in cooking.

Also: rum flavour, brandy flavour, wine flavour

Flavourings that are themselves an alcoholic drink added to food.

Where the flavouring is an actual alcoholic drink, it is avoided. Trace alcohol used only as a carrier is a separate, differed matter; see vanilla extract.

Cured pork products: bacon strips, bacon bits (real bacon), ham, prosciutto, pancetta, guanciale, salami, pepperoni (usually pork+beef), pastrami (sometimes), and hot dogs unless specified beef or halal.

All are pork or contain pork. Common in restaurant breakfasts, salads, sandwiches, pizza toppings, and processed foods. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; also avoid dishes cooked on shared surfaces or in shared oil with pork products.

Also: beer batter, ale, stout, lager

Beer, used in beer-battered fish, beer breads, sauces, and some cheeses and marinades.

Beer is an intoxicant and is not permitted, including in cooking. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid beer-battered items and any dish or product listing beer or ale.

Also: raptor

Birds with talons that hunt other animals (eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, and similar).

Broad consensus that meat from birds of prey with talons is not permitted.

Also: blood plasma

Blood, blood plasma, and blood-based ingredients used as a binder in some black puddings, blood sausages (morcilla, boudin noir), some traditional processed meats, and (rarely) as a colouring or thickener labelled "plasma protein".

Not permitted in any form. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; also avoid dishes made with blood-based sausages even after cooking.

Also: black pudding, blood pudding

A sausage made with blood, often with pork.

Made from blood, and often pork; both are not permitted.

Also: maytah, maitah

Meat from an animal that died without proper slaughter.

An animal not slaughtered according to Islamic rites is not permitted.

Also: huangjiu, sake as cooking ingredient

Used in Chinese and Japanese cooking, in sauces, marinades, and stir-fries. Also in some ready-made stir-fry sauces and dumpling fillings.

Cooking wine is fermented and alcoholic. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; substitute with rice vinegar plus a little water and sugar, or halal-certified alcohol-free cooking wine.

Also: gator

Meat from crocodiles and alligators.

Predatory reptiles with fangs; broad consensus that they are not permitted.

Meat from a domestic donkey.

Broad consensus that domestic donkey meat is not permitted.

Meat from frogs.

Broad consensus that frog meat is not permitted, based on a prohibition on killing frogs.

Rendered pig fat, historically used in flaky pastries, pie crusts, tortillas, refried beans, and traditional pork-and-beans. Still appears in some Mexican and Southern American cooking.

A pork derivative. May be labelled simply as "shortening", "animal fat", or "fat" without specifying pig. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; choose products explicitly labelled all-vegetable or halal-certified.

Also: non-zabiha meat, non-halal meat

Meat from an animal not slaughtered according to Islamic rites.

For meat to be permitted it must be from a halal-slaughtered (zabiha) animal. Where meat is not stated as halal or zabiha, it is avoided.

Also: japanese sweet wine

A sweet Japanese rice wine used in teriyaki, glazes, and simmered dishes. Common in Japanese restaurant sauces and store-bought teriyaki sauces.

Mirin is fermented and alcoholic. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; substitute with sugar and rice vinegar, or use a mirin-free teriyaki recipe.

Meat from a mule (donkey and horse cross).

Broad consensus that mule meat is not permitted.

Also: 0.5% ABV drinks, alcohol-free beer

Drinks marketed as non-alcoholic but produced through brewing or winemaking, then partially de-alcoholised.

Even though the alcohol content is very low (typically under 0.5 percent), these drinks are made through the same fermentation process as beer and wine, and mimic their taste and identity. Most scholars advise avoiding them. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid.

Also: pig, swine

Any ingredient derived from the pig, including pork meat, lard, gelatin, pork enzymes, pork casings on sausages, and pork stock in soups and ramen.

The most common source of non-halal ingredients on North American labels. Watch also for the code E441 (pork gelatin) and less obvious carriers like "natural flavor" or "enzymes" in cheese and processed meats when the origin is not stated. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; when in doubt on any processed food, ask the manufacturer directly.

Also: pork bouillon

A stock made from pork bones or meat.

A pork derivative.

Also: porcine gelatin

Gelatin specifically from pigs, coded as E441 with a "P" or explicitly labelled "porcine gelatin". Common in gummy candies (Haribo classic, most gummy bears), marshmallows, jelly, and gelatin-based capsules from Europe and Asia.

A pork derivative. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; look for fish gelatin, halal-certified beef gelatin, or plant alternatives (agar, pectin).

Also: crackling, pork scratchings

Fried or processed pig skin.

A pork derivative.

Also: pig, swine, porcine, sus scrofa, jamon, tocino

Names that hide pork on ingredient lists and international menus: "porcine" (from pigs), "sus scrofa" (Latin name), "jamon" (Spanish), "tocino" (Spanish/Filipino cured pork), "tocinillo", "chicharron" (fried pork skin), "guanciale", "pancetta", "lardons", "lardo", "speck", "coppa", "capicola".

All are pork or pork products. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid; when eating out or travelling, ask specifically about these words on the menu.

Also: carnivore meat

Meat from carnivorous predators with fangs (lion, tiger, wolf, dog, cat, and similar).

Broad consensus that meat from fanged predators is not permitted.

Also: SDA, SD alcohol 40, ethanol denat., alcohol denat.

Different label names for ethanol used in mouthwashes (Listerine and similar), some skincare, some flavor extracts, and some hair sprays. "SD" stands for "specially denatured" - it is real drinking alcohol with additives to make it taste bad.

The same intoxicant, whatever the label calls it. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid ingested products (mouthwashes, breath fresheners, some cough remedies) that list SD alcohol, ethanol, or denatured alcohol; alcohol-free mouthwashes are widely available.

Also: red wine, white wine, cooking wine, wine reduction

Wine, used in sauces, marinades, dressings, wine-braised dishes, some chocolates, and some risottos.

Any wine is an intoxicant and is not permitted, including in cooking. Cooking does not remove all alcohol. For Zabiha-strict households, avoid dishes and products listing any form of wine, wine reduction, wine vinegar of grape wine origin, or "with wine".