Are you a lover of Red MnMs, Skittles, or for that matter the Red lipstick...watch out!! be careful of consuming Haram..or ordering cakes/cupcakes that have the colour RED in them! E120 / Carmine dye E120 is a red food coloring which is derived from insects. This ingredient can be found in a lot of food. Recently, theyve started using E120 in the gelatin-free Skittles produced in the UK, which has caused most Muslims up there to stop consuming them. The following link is that of S.A.N.H.A. ...you must have seen this certification on many Pakistani consumer products (if you ever read the wrapper) sanha.co.za/a/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=260 MORE ABOUT THE RED CARMINE! E120 is most common term for this substance used in ingredient labels, however they may also list it as carmine (dye) or cochineal. Here is some information on E120: A deep crimson dye is extracted from the female cochineal insects. Cochineal is used to produce scarlet, orange and other red tints. The colouring comes from carminic acid. Cochineal extracts natural carminic-acid content is usually 19–22%.[5] The insects are killed by immersion in hot water (after which they are dried) or by exposure to sunlight, steam, or the heat of an oven. Each method produces a different colour which results in the varied appearance of commercial cochineal. The insects must be dried to about 30 percent of their original body weight before they can be stored without decaying.[10] It takes about 155,000 insects to make one kilogram of cochineal. There are two principal forms of cochineal dye: cochineal extract is a colouring made from the raw dried and pulverised bodies of insects, and carmine is a more purified colouring made from the cochineal. To prepare carmine, the powdered insect bodies are boiled in ammonia or a sodium carbonate solution, the insoluble matter is removed by filtering, and alum is added to the clear salt solution of carminic acid to precipitate the red aluminium salt. Purity of colour is ensured by the absence of iron. Stannous chloride, citric acid, borax, or gelatin may be added to regulate the formation of the precipitate. For shades of purple, lime is added to the alum. Now what is the Islamic view on E120? Well from what can be found from within ahadeeth, locusts are the only permissible insect that can be consumed, and is mentioned exactly by name. Some scholars therefore deem ALL other insects as haram because they cannot be slaughtered in accordance to shariah, due to their small size and because they are bloodless which means even if somehow slaughtered at the throat, the blood will not flow. all thats being done is that the color is being extracted from the insects. Allah knows best!! Personally, whether its halal or haram, the thought of those hundreds of thousands of insects being boiled... steamed... roasted... dunked in ammonia... is soooo disgusting!!!! So I will pass on E120... which would mean passing on red M&Ms as well... which is a easy can do in my book. Usually I like posting pictures on my entries... but I guess considering the topic Ill pass so no one pukes on their computers and then blame me. But in case youre interested, this is someones screen-shot of an article from when the FDA finally decided that ingredients labels should include E120 specifically rather than hiding it under artifical flavors. There is an image of the insect in the article, which can be found here
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:10:23 +0000
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