E- means EC (European communities) and E-Numbers are assigned to various food additives. Some E-Numbers are banned in some countries. In UK Numbers without E prefix are allowed but may not be allowed in other country. We are getting lot of e-mails from our Muslims brother and sisters inquiring about HALAL status of E-Numbers, so we decided to add to our web site. E-Numbers are divided into following category:

 

Food Additives	E-Numbers
Colors	100-180
Preservatives	200-252
Acidities	260-297
Antioxidant	300-385
Thickeners	400-429
Emulsifiers	430-499
Flavor Enhancer	620-640
Sweeteners	950-967

 

Halal Status: The Halal status was given to the ingredients which are obtained from 100% Halal raw materials without use of alcohol. These are plant and chemical based material. 

Haram: Those are obtained from animal source or use of alcohol. All non-zabiha Halal animal by-products were considered as Haram because Allah’s name was not announced at the time of slaughtering the animal. Off course pork by product was considered 100% Haram.  Some Muslims may differ with us about not accepting the meat slaughtered by people of the book as not Halal meat. 

Mushbooh: Mushbooh status was given to those E-Numbers where source of raw material was not known, it could be from plant source or animal source and also lack of information of use of alcohol with based ingredients. 

Hidden ingredients: We have no knowledge of different food laws in different countries regarding hidden processing aid ingredients which may be Haram. 

HARAM E – NUMBERS:
The following ingredients are considered as Haram: 

E 120: Cochineal (red color from insects) according to Ulema from UK and South Africa 

E 132: Indigo Carmine/Idigotine (Color)

E 441: Gelatin 

E 542: Edible Bone Phosphate 

We have carefully checked these ingredients based on our knowledge of US food industry but we are not familiar with different food laws in different European countries.