animal rennet in chocolates

Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.

Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.

The Vegetarian Society said the company's move was "incomprehensible".

The chocolates 100% halal are galaxy (milk chocolate only) and revels.

well put. but wont go far as saying its haraam as then you'd think another who wants to go down the fatwa and not taqwa route is eating haraam.

Found this on the GMWA Foodguide website:

Masterfoods 2007

(page link here)

Wassalaam

one should/must NOT look down on those who decide to eat it or somehow think themselves more high or taqwa bearing then others.

far as i know masterfood UK chocs have been ok as they've used non-animal rennet/whey but thier chocs in the wider EC have always used the animal rennet/whey. now seems as they've gone down the single animal ingredient for all EC route - this is one of those things that we muslims, jews and other non-muslim veggie's can force them to change if we channel our efforts correctly and co-ordinate them together.

Really ticks me off when people dont research things first rather then jump on band wagon an forward these email on to very tom, farooq, and fatima in the world.

on a good point least it shows people are alert of such things and care enough about the deen of others as they pass it on.

Hadhrat Mufti Sahib and his associates spend a large amount of time and effort trying to get information from companies about halaal/haraam ingredients and it is no easy task!

That is why they need as many people on their mailing list so that when they need to 'put the pressure on' to these companies then we need to help them out and write/email them with our complaints as directed by foodguide.org.uk. So please, get on the mailing list and respond when they ask for your help. 5 mins of our time will make their jobs a whole load easier!

So bookmark foodguide.org.uk, pass the message onto friend/family/colleagues about the site and let us ensure we support them when requested.

May Allah سبحانه وتعالى reward Hadhrat and his associates who help in this much needed task, Aameen.

The Vegetarian Society organised a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to parent company Masterfoods.

Mars said it became "very clear, very quickly" that it had made a mistake.

In just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands, with phone and e-mail complaints.

Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition.

Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars UK, said the company had listened to customers and decided to reverse its decision.

"The consumer is our boss and we had lots of feedback from consumers who were unhappy about the change," Ms Dawson said.

"It became very clear, very quickly that we had made a mistake, for which I am sorry.

"There are three million vegetarians in the UK and not only did we disappoint them, but we upset a lot of the consumers."

'Principled decision'

The Vegetarian Society had called the move by Mars "incomprehensible" and "a backward step" at a time when consumers were increasingly concerned about "the provenance of their food".

We are very pleased that they now recognise the importance of integrity to all their customers, especially vegetarians

Dr Annette Pinner
Vegetarian Society

Mars replied that, by admitting its products were no longer suitable for "extremely strict vegetarians", it was making a "principled decision".

Now it insists it will begin changing its recipes back immediately.

Dr Annette Pinner, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, said she was pleased Mars had been "honest enough" to admit it had "made a mistake".

"A Masterfoods representative has made contact with us and we are very pleased that they now recognise the importance of integrity to all their customers, especially vegetarians," she added.

Rennet is extracted from calves' stomachs and was to have been used in the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods' bars too.

Salam,

As soon as i found out that the chocolates are not going to be suitable for vegetarians I emailed Masterfoods. This is the response I recieved today: