A few Points on the Food Problems for Muslims in the West

A few Points on the Food Problems for Muslims in the West

Mujahida Lanceford

Muslims are leaving for temporary stays in the West in greater numbers and for a variety of reasons such as study, business, medical treatment, and visiting relatives. While there, they will have to buy and cook foods for themselves or else rely on restaurants and institutional cafeterias. Many may leave their homelands completely unprepared for the difficulties a practicing Muslim faces when trying to find halal food in non-Muslim country.

What follows is by no means an exhaustive list but is an attempt to alert the Muslim travelling abroad to the most suspect foods and to provide him with some general guidelines for shopping and eating. The question of whether to eat meat that is not zabiha in a nominal Christian country is a matter that the jurists have dealt with and must be decided by the individuals, except to say that one should beware of timed meats and frozen meats imported from countries that are neither Muslim nor “People of the Book”, such as any communist country, I will limit myself to the two items that are both clearly haram and to be commonly found in Western food.

At the meat counter of the grocery store pig is called by many names, the most common being pork, ham, bacon, Canadian bacon, spare ribs, and hot dogs (also called wieners, frankfurters and franks). In some regions, one may also see pigs’ hocks, pig feet, “fat black”, “chitlings”, “cracklings” and “Rocky Mountain oysters”, also all forms of pig. One should also avoid ground meat in the form of sausage, meat balls, meat patties, and any so-called luncheon meat (such as bologna, salami, picnic loaf, etc.) as all of these normally have at least some pork content. In fact, some Muslim have been advised by butchers that no ground meat is safe from contamination with pork, even so called “100 percent ground beef”, as meat grinders are used for pork as well as other meats and are often not thoroughly cleaned.

The most difficult pork by-product to avoid is oil, usually known as lard, animal fat, or shortening. Lard is always from the pig and should not be eaten. Animal fat may be from the pig of cow or both and thus is not safe, Shortening may be another name for lard or may be merely pure vegetable oil, and unless one can ascertain which it is, one should not eat it. Bread, cookies, cakes, pies, biscuits, crackers, doughnuts, and all other baked goods will often say only shortening “: these are not safe to eat. Alternatively, the label may read “shortening (may contain palm oil and or coconut oil and/or…)”, listing all the varieties of oil that may be present. In this case, make sure that the words “lard” or “animal fat” do not appear somewhere in the list. If the shortening is specified as purely vegetable oil or as a combination of various types of vegetable oil the product can be safely eaten. Any prepared foods that have been fired or coated in bread, crumbs or similar batter, frozen, TV dinners, frozen French fries or chips, frozen fish or chicken patties, and the like, must be checked as they may have been fried in lard.

Gelatin is produced from the bone marrow of animals, usually the pig. It will be found in Jello (or other brands of gelatin such as Knox) and is a popular item in desserts and salads, done or mixed with fruit. It is also an ingredient in many brands of yogurt, and chocolates. For home cooking, one can buy a vegetable equivalent made of seaweed known as agar-agar, usually available in health food store, Jewish groceries, and from some Muslim groceries.

Pepsin is an enzyme used as catalyst in cheese-making and usually comes from the pig’s intestines. Any cheese-flavoured product should be checked for this item. Cheese that is made with rennet (which comes from the cow) or a bacterial culture is acceptable. But cheese labels will often read “rennet and/or bacterial culture” and, in this case, cannot be eaten. There is a fairly recent practice among some large cheese manufacturers to label cheese as containing “microbial enzyme” which can, at least sometimes, be just another name for pepsin.

Alcohol will be found in many food as well. Much restaurant food, particularly in more expensive restaurants, will contain wine in the sauces, but in grocery stores, too, one must be cautious. Avoid wine vinegar and cider vinegar or salad dressings made with these. Be careful of baked goods, desserts and candy/especially chocolates) which may be flavoured with rum, sherry, or numerous kind of liquor. Vanilla extract and all other extracts (such as lemon, almond and mint) are alcohol-based and will be found in nearly all baked sweets. For home cooking, vanilla is available in other forms: health food stores or

some practising Muslim sisters may be able to advice.

In medicine, there are again the two dangers of pig and alcohol. Capsules are made of gelatin, a pork by-product. If given a capsule, ask your doctor if the medication is available as a tablet or in some other form. If not, ask whether you can safely swallow only the contents and discard the capsule itself. Cough syrups, cold medications and some pain killers may contain alcohol. Ask the doctor or the pharmacist for an equivalent medicine without alcohol. Substitutes are available but you will have to be persistent as most non-Muslims and some Muslims will not believe that seriously object to such a tiny quantity of alcohol. You will be on firm ground in making your request; there is a clear hadith against using alcohol as a medicine, which can be found in Muslim, Ahmad, Abu Daoud and al Tirmidhi.

In the grocery store, your, rule of thumb must be Read the label. If a food is not labelled with a list of ingredients, do not buy it. No matter how harmless a food may appear to you, it could contain pork or alcohol. Labels will rarely say “pork” or “alcohol” so clearly: become familiar with the names of their various forms, such as gelatin, pepsin, extract, and learn to recognize them when reading labels. Even when you come to rely on a certain brand of food as safe, you should still check the label every time you buy it, as it is not unusual for a company to make slight changes in ingredients. Avoid packaged foods and prepared foods as much as possible: be suspicious of foods that come in tins, bottles and plastic wrappers.

Instead, buy fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, eggs, potatoes, grains such as rice, varieties of pasta, dried beans and lentils.

Jewish delicatessens are a safe source for meats, cheese and bread. Anything labelled “Kosher” is free of pork. But do not assume all Jewish food is safe as much of their cooking is done with wine. In large cities you may find Muslim groceries who carry zabeeha meat and other hard-to-find items. Local Islamic organizations may be able to advice.

It will be safest to avoid restaurants entirely. If you must eat in restaurant, however, choose carefully. Boiled egg, baked potatoes, raw fruit still in the peel, and milk are almost always safe choices. Many restaurants now have salad bars where you can choose from a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, but here you will need to avoid mixed dishes such as potato salad. A good guideline is this; if you cannot name with certainly every ingredient in a dish, pass it by. By no means should you eat bread, fried foods or food coated in butter. Not all Muslim restaurants are safe, as many Muslims have left the practise of Islam and others simply are not aware of all the dietary problems. Unless you know Muslim restauranteur and have discussed these matters with him, you should not assume too much.

Most airlines provide you with a “Muslim meal”, if you ask several days in advance, though in some cases you have to explain the particular restrictions. If so, tell the airline that you cannot eat pork or any pork by-product, nor you drink alcohol or eat any food cooked with alcohol in any quantity. If such a meal is not available, a kosher meal is often adequate, though again you will need to ascertain whether alcohol was used in the preparation.

All non-Muslims invitations are risky, whether to private houses, a reception, a large party, buffet or catered dinner. The food can rarely be eaten with certainty and one must bear in mind that there are clear injunctions in the ahadith against a Muslim even seating with the people who are drinking alcohol and there will be few gatherings in the west where alcohol is absent. It is possible to eat while living in the west, but the conscientious Muslim will have to be satisfied with simple food. Alhamdulillah, these days most North-American and European cities have Mosques or Islamic Centres and Organizations that can be easily contacted by simply consulting the telephone book. There will usually be at least a few people there who are both knowledgeable and faithful in their practices in Islam. Finally, remember that in this, as in other kind of Jihad, our reward is with Allah.