Why vegan sweets are not necessarily halal – an explanation

In our online shop, we sell halal sweetscontaining beef gelatin. We also sell vegan sweets that are made entirely without gelatin and are halal certified.  

We see many devout Muslims who follow a halal lifestyle and consume all vegan sweets without hesitation because they equate vegan with halal.

In this article, we would like to answer two questions:

• Are halal sweets also vegan/vegetarian?
• Are vegan/vegetarian sweets also halal?

Are halal sweets always vegan?

This question is easy to answer: no, not always. For sweets to be classified as vegan, they must be produced entirely without animal additives. However, many halal sweets are made with beef gelatin and are therefore not vegan. There is one company worldwide that produces halal-certified sweets that are also vegan or gelatin-free. You can find these vegan halal sweets here.   

Are vegan sweets automatically halal?

At first glance, one might think that vegan sweets are always halal because they do not contain gelatin—and therefore no pork. However, vegan sweets may contain ingredients that are prohibited in Islam (i.e., haram) and therefore not halal. These include:

• Alcohol is prohibited in Islam due to its intoxicating effect. However, many non-fresh foods, such as vegan sweets, contain flavorings that serve to refine the taste and aroma. However, most flavorings used in the food industry contain ethanol or alcohol as a carrier. If the flavoring in vegan sweets has been dissolved in alcohol (ethanol), it cannot be classified as "halal."

• Cross-contamination. If vegan sweets are manufactured in industrial facilities where non-halal products (containing pork, for example) are also produced, traces of these products can be transferred to the vegan sweets. This contamination means that the vegan sweets cannot be classified as "halal" either.