Time and again we frequently hear conversations about certain cheese and cheese related products being impermissible due to the source of rennet. In fact, quite often we hear people labelling products as impermissible to consume because they see rennet on the list of ingredients.
In our humble opinion, prior to labelling a product impermissible (haram), it’s best to at least call or write to the company to find out the source of rennet. Whenever there’s a difference of opinion, we personally prefer to use the term ‘questionable’ or ‘doubtful’ than outrightly labelling it impermissible (haram).
Anyway, we came across a great article by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi and thought we should share it. It talks about what rennet is and different opinions that different schools of thought hold. We understand it’s a lengthy article, but we highly recommend that you read it in it’s entirety.
We enjoy consuming Dempster’s and Country Harvest’s breads and the topic of mono and diglycerides came up. Hence, we decided to confirm the source of mono and diglycerides in their bread products.
Here’s what we found on Dempster’s website:
Mono and diglycerides are emulsion stabilizers (salad dressing, for example, is an emulsion of water in oil). Therefore, mono and diglycerides are not derived from any animal source; neither are our breads—they are entirely made from plant ingredients.
We love Frito Lay snacks and from time to time we find ourselves referring to their list of Porcine Enzymes free products to ensure we can enjoy them. It is important to note that Frito Lay’s list of Porcine Enzymes free product list changes from time to time. Hence, when in doubt, please call them and send them an email to get an updated list.
Below is the list of Frito Lay Canadian Products that are free of Porcine Enzymes (April 26, 2013):
BAKED! CHEETOS® Crunchy Cheese Flavoured Snacks
CHEETOS® CRUNCHY® Cheese Flavoured Snacks
CHEETOS® Puffs Cheese Flavoured Snacks
DORITOS® Bold BBQ Flavour Tortilla Chips
DORITOS® COOL RANCH® Flavour Tortilla Chips
DORITOS® Inferno Flavoured Tortilla Chips
DORITOS® Intense Pickle Flavour Tortilla Chips
DORITOS® SWEET CHILI HEAT!® Flavour Tortilla Chips
TOSTITOS® Restaurant Style Hint of Lime Flavour Tortilla Chips
TOSTITOS® Spinach Dip
While we strive to update our product lists and nutritional information in a timely manner, the information on this website may not be the most current. All Frito Lay Canada products are labeled accurately with the most current ingredient information, and since the ingredients in our products are subject to change at any time, we recommend that you check the label on a specific product for the most current and accurate nutritional information. If you require assistance, please contact our Consumer Response Centre toll-free at 1-800-376-2257, Monday through Friday between 10:00am and 5:30pm Eastern Time.
As for our favourite Frito Lay snack, it’s Crunchy Flamin’ Hot Cheetos! However, caution must be taken and research done to ensure that this snack does not have Porcine Enzymes. We’ve noticed in the past it has gone off the list. So on our next trip to the U.S., we’ll be sure to get our supply of Crunchy Flamin’ Hot Cheetos 🙂
We are halal food enthusiasts and we like enjoying food that is halal. Albeit we usually dine at restaurants serving complete halal menu, we do eat at other establishments where certain food items are halal. Of course caution always needs to be taken and when in doubt avoid it or ask for details.
Recently we contacted a couple of New York Fries locations in GTA and learned that the gravy in poutine is vegetable based. We even had a couple of vegan and vegetarian friends confirm it. So we tried it and enjoyed it. In addition to having a yummy New York Fries, having a decent poutine coupled with mozzarella cheese curds made the experience worthwhile for us.
The information regarding vegetable based gravy in poutine is accurate around the time we blogged about it. Also, it is only their regular poutine that is okay (and not Pulled Pork Poutine, Braised Beef Poutine or Butter Chicken Poutine). Please check and confirm prior to consuming poutine at New York Fries.
Addendum: We confirmed with New York Fries that the rennet in the cheese curds is vegetable based.
We recently heard through word of mouth that Red Lobster menu items may contain alcohol. Since we like do our own research and not follow others blindly we decided to get in touch with Red Lobster to find out for ourselves. We absolutely love their shrimp dishes compared to the other seafood dishes they offer. Hence, most of the menu items we inquired about are shrimp-based dishes.
We sent them an email inquiring whether the following dishes contain alcohol and they requested if we have any particular location in mind.
The following are the 2 locations we inquired about:
790 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W., Mississauga, ON L5C3X3, (905) 848-8477
3252 Sheppard Ave. East, Scarborough, ON M1T3K3, (416) 491-2507
Below is their response:
I have researched your question about the alcohol in our menu items. Upon review of these menu items, here is a list of items that do or do not contain alcohol:
Garlic Grilled / Fire Grilled Shrimp – yes, contains alcohol
Haddock & Chips – no alcohol
While Red Lobster has made every effort to provide complete and current content information, our recipes and ingredients can change at any time. Additionally, we cannot guarantee that cross-contact with other foods containing this ingredient will not occur in our kitchens. Please keep these considerations in mind as you decide if these menu items can meet your individual needs.
We appreciate the time you took to write to us. If Guest Relations can be of further assistance, please reply to this email or write us again through our website at http://www.redlobster.com.
Please bear in mind that the response is strictly for the menu items we inquired about and only for the 2 particular locations. Therefore, do not jump to conclusions about all their locations and it’s best to contact them directly for further clarification and details.
We contacted Red Lobster to see if it’s possible to request the aforementioned menu items without alcohol:
Currently, we can not modify our recipes, so we would ask that you please select the menu items that are free of alcohol already.
We appreciate the time you took to write to us. If Guest Relations can be of further assistance, please reply to this email or write us again through our website at http://www.redlobster.com.
We are uber upset because Red Lobster was one of our favourite places to eat and we always enjoyed their fabulous service. I guess we can still go for their complimentary biscuits 😦 .
Someone was concerned about the halal-ness of McD’s fries in Canada. Called and clarified over the phone, plus found the following on their website, which I thought I should share:
“We do not use beef tallow in our fries. Our fries do not have any meat additives and do not come into contact with any meat or meat-containing components during their preparation. They are cooked in 100% vegetable oil with vegetable-based natural flavour (we phased animal fats out of our fry oil in 2007). Our restaurants also use dedicated fryers for cooking our potato products, which are separate from fryers used to cook fish or chicken products. Long story short: our french fries are suitable for vegetarian diets.”
This is from McDonald’s Canada website.
Addendum (January 31, 2015):
At Canadian McDonalds, the fries have a seasoning that is from a vegetable source. The ingredients for the ones sold in the United States may be different. This is the list of ingredients for the fries as of January 2015 from the McDonalds website:
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