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Sugar processed through bone char (animal bones)

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#1 [Permalink] Posted on 26th April 2014 23:53
Recently its come to my knowledge that sugar natural colour is brown. To make it white it is bleached through a process using animal bones.

Some research was done on the internet and its giving this same information. Also saying brown sugar that we eat is bleached white then brown again, thereafter we eat it.

Now the problem is sugar is in nearly everything. I am confused whether this is true or not because this could mean sugar is not halal if its being processed through animal bones to be bleached.

Does anyone have any information on this or can elaborate on this topic, whether sugar is 100% halal with proof please??
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#2 [Permalink] Posted on 27th April 2014 09:56
Interesting! But without a breakdown of every ingredient, we shouldn't come to a conclusion immediately.

A very well known sweet, "Mentos" contains sugar which has been renamed as "Sucrose esters" and that is not Halal.
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#3 [Permalink] Posted on 27th April 2014 13:05
salaam
Quote:


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_char#Sugar_refining

Sugar refining


Bone char is often used in sugar refining as a decolourising and deashing agent. This practice is of concern to vegetarians and vegans; it should be noted that the bone char does come into contact with the sugar-solution, however it is insoluble and does not become part of it. Additionally, it is used as part of the refining process for cane sugar but not beet sugar. Bone char posses a lower decolouration capacity than activated carbon, however unlike carbon it is able to remove inorganic impurities; most importantly sulfate and the ions of magnesium and calcium. The removal of these is beneficial, as it reduces the level of scaling later in the refining process, when the sugar solution is evaporated to dryness. Alternatives to bone char have long been proposed, however the only current alternatives are ion-exchange resins, which are more expensive.


i suppose a mufti should investigate the process and then pass a fatwa in regards to its permissability.
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#4 [Permalink] Posted on 27th April 2014 21:19

Applicable to Everyone:

What is the Problem?

[QUOTE=People for the ethical treatment of animals]

Bone char, which is used to process sugar, is made from the bones of cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, India, and Pakistan. The bones are sold to traders in Scotland, Egypt, and Brazil who then sell them back to the U.S. sugar industry. The European Union and the USDA heavily regulate the use of bone char. Only countries that are deemed BSE-free can sell the bones of their cattle for this process. Bone char—often referred to as natural carbon—is widely used by the sugar industry as a decolorizing filter, which allows the sugar cane to achieve its desirable white color. Other types of filters involve granular carbon or an ion-exchange system rather than bone char.

[/quote]

Is PIG included in this?

Pig doesn't come under cattle, so generally "No".

Is the bone char obtained from cattle "Halal" even if the animal is not Dhabiha (Islamically slaughtered)?

"Yes"

[QUOTE=Mufti Hussain Kadodia (HA)]

It is an intricate issue, however I wil try to simplify it:

Certain parts of an animals body are such that there don't contain life. They are parts of the animal that aren't described as being alive or dead.
Such parts are horns, hoofs, bones etc.

These parts are such that they are permanently Halal - as long as the animal is one that can be normally consumed - regardless of whether the animal is slaughtered correctly or not.

The reason is that once Allah Ta'ala classified an animal eg. a sheep, as halal, every part - except the 7 famous makruh parts - is now Halal.
Yes, Zabah is a condition for the meat to be halal as, if zabah does not take place the meat become polluted, however for the other parts, zabah doesn't have any effect.

So, the bones of halal animals are always halal, regardless of whether the animal is zabihah or not, thus the gelatin from such bones will also be halal.

The skin on the other hand has the same ruling as the meat. So gelatin from the skin is only permissible, if the animal is zabihah.

[/QUOTE]

Applicable to UK Market only:

I would like to avoid this? I don't know why but I would...

Sure, following brands are Halal and Bone Char free

So I just don't buy any other brands and is that it?

No, you have to enquire about every cake, every donut, every tea, every coffee, everything sweet that you consume.

How do I do that?

Don't know, your problem; investigate.

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#5 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 06:47
One thing I ve noticed is, the questions of 'halaalness' of food products in Indian market is also a big question mark. But such precaution and information regarding food products are non-existent in India.
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#6 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 09:33
umar123 wrote:
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How come? Doesn't India has a huge vegetarian population, I would have thought that it would be very easy to stick to a Vegetarian diet in India?
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#7 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 09:42
When I was in India, I was told any meat is halal and everything is halal since the Hindus are veggies, but I don't know why people automatically assume everything is halal.

There is imported meats too.


In Pakistan, many of the food stuff has been imported and costs an arm and a leg but people but it assuming that it's good quality and not realize that it's haram.

We bought some food stuff only to return it after reading the ingredients.

Sad situation in both countries.
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#8 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 10:05
Muadh_Khan wrote:
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Yea its easy to stick to vegetarian diet, depending on the place you live. But have in mind Hindus are not vegetarians only the hindu sub-caste Brahmins are veggies. Beef might be banned in most of the places.

I live in a south india, in a state where there is a higher density of Muslims and Christians than rest of India. So Beef is available and people(including hindus) are heavy meat consumers.

Also There is a stark contrast between the eating habits of urban india and rural india. Urban people, even vegetarians are not strict on processed food. They do not try to find out if there is animal products in it. They just avoid, meat, fish and eggs and they are happy. So there isn't much data out there on what processed products that Muslims should be avoiding.

As far as meat is concerned, Majority of the slaughter houses are owned by Muslims, but I have seen non-Muslims slaughtering. So I mention I want halal meat specifically. But there is no way of finding if the meat is halaal in restaurants. Some Muslim owners do put up sign boards as halaal. But in many parts of India, if the restaurant is owned by a Muslim, the meat will be halaal. Too much variations depending on the place you live.

So the main issue is processed food. I was really shocked to hear about the 'bone char' used in sugar. Even something common as sugar are mixed with animal products during processing.
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#9 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 11:49
So if i was to buy some sweets or anything from indian with the green circle, which means vegetarian. Could it be trusted that the product is 100% vegetarian or do people in indian put the sign just so that they can make more business by getting more customers?
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#10 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 11:51
Rumo wrote:
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P.s sry i dont know how the food system of halal: haram runs in india.
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#11 [Permalink] Posted on 28th April 2014 12:53

Rumo wrote:
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This is not an issue for Muslims but an issue for Hindus. Even if bone char is used the Sugar is permissible for Muslims to use.

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#12 [Permalink] Posted on 29th April 2014 22:58
That fatwa by mufti saab should be checked to see weather sugar comes under that category.

However even if fatwa says sugar is halal but taqwa will say its not.
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#13 [Permalink] Posted on 9th June 2014 09:38

askimam.org/public/question_detail/29164

It has recently been brought to my attention that sugar is processed through bone charcoal which has been derived from animal origins.

Now, this does not apply to all sugars, I have contacted a few companies such as 'silver spoon', 'tate and tyle', 'billington' and found that they do not use such a process. But since sugar is in almost all foods it is simply not possible to to enquire from every company about the source of thier sugar (which they themselves may not be aware of).  

So if you could please let me now what course of action to take because a few brothers I know have totally stopped all sugar related products, such as pasta, mayonnaise/sauces, pizza, bread, bakery, biscuits, cereals, juices etc.

We are urgently awaiting your response.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Bone char is a granular material produced by charring animal bones; the bones are heated to high temperatures (in the range of 400 to 500 °C).[1]It is primarily used for filtration and decolourisation.[2] Bone char is primarily made from cow bones.[3]

The usage of charred cow bones for sugar refining does not raise a shar‘ī issue as bones of halal animals are pure immaterial of the method of slaughtering.[4]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Hisham Dawood

Student, Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net

[3] ibid

[4]

 وعصب الميتة وعظمها وقرنها وريشها وشعرها وصوفها وظلفها وكذا حافرها ومخلبها و كل ما لا تحله الحياة منها طاهر مطلقا إذا لم تكن عليها دسومة (حلبي صغير ص-٩٧، دار النشر العلمية)

كل ما يستباح من الحيوان في حال حياته بغير ذكاة، فحاله بعد الموت كهي قبله، وذلك لأنه لا يلحقه حكم الموت لأنه لو كان يلحقه حكم الموت لما حل له إلا بذكاة الأصل كاللحم وسائر أعضاء الحيوان، لما لحقه حكم الموت بموت الحيوان، لم يحله إلا الذكاة...ولهذه العلة نفسها قلنا فى الشعر والصوف والريش والقرن ونحوها أنها لا تكون ميتة بعد موت الحيوان (شرح مختصر الطحاوي ج-٧ ص-٢٩٦-٢٩٧، دار السراج)

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#14 [Permalink] Posted on 9th June 2014 09:43
Muadh_Khan wrote:
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Is there a technical term used for this or E numbers in the ingredients?
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#15 [Permalink] Posted on 9th June 2014 09:48
abu mohammed wrote:
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No.

European union heavily regulates the use of Bone Char unlike USDA and in India/Pakistan this isn't even labelled. The brands which are bone char free are given above (for UK).



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