Is Carmine Halal?

 

Halal beauty products have been criticized for including carmine in beauty products including lipstick and eye shadow. A chemical extract from the Cochineal and Porphyrophora insect species, carmine (or carminic acid) is what gives many cosmetics their brilliant red colour. Carmine may also present in foods as juice and yoghurt, sauces and syrups and in candy.

THE MAKING PROCESS OF CARMINE
The dye comes from a scale bug known as the cochineal bumblebeetle which spends its whole life clinging to the prickly pears in Central and South America. Nearly all of the bug, which is harvested for hundreds of years or even more, is presently collected on prickly pear fields in Peru as well as the Canary Islands.

With a typical annual export of 70 tons, Peru will be the main exporter of this dye. When you think about that one pound of dye requires 70,000 of these cochineal insects, that is a lot of bugs.

Personnel remove the bugs from the prickly pears pads by gathering them in warehouses and storing them there. It is challenging to retrieve the female cochineal because it spends its entire existence burrowed into the plant.

They are then separated and dried in the sun, after being removed. The beautiful red colour of the bug bodies is then seen after they are crushed. The contrast is striking because the bugs' exteriors are covered in white powder for protection.

The dye that will be utilized is then brought out by mixing the crushed bugs with an acidic alcohol solution. This is the reason the color is sometimes termed cochineal extract due to its characteristic color.

For certain colour effects, the dye may occasionally be used with a solution like borax. This produces a highly vivid red pigment when combined with water and other fluids. It can be used for numerous items and comes in many different red shades.

IS CARMINE SAFE FOR EATING?
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration had earlier permitted the usage of carmine on labels labelled as "natural dyes." However when it was learned that several individuals are able to have serious allergic responses from this color, including anaphylaxis, it was agreed it ought to be clearly labeled on products.

The dye is now labelled with one of the following letters : crimson lake, carmine lake, carminic acid, or natural red 4 may be substituted for carmine, colchineal, or cochineal extract.

It has no particular health dangers as it's made from an all natural ingredient. Compared to many of the more hazardous dyes currently available, it's also viewed as a usually renewable resource.

People dislike bugs, so when it was revealed what the dye was composed of, there were a lot of uproars. If you can comprehend it, it's a better choice to the other choices.

Non-renewable resources are used to produce alternative dyes like Red 40 and Red 2. It has also been linked with different health conditions such as asthma, cancer, ADHD and attention deficiency hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The CSPI, a consumer advocacy group based In Washington D.C., conducts an investigation into the dangers and health effects of Food colourings In their report Food Colours: Read about their concerns about these carcinogen-laden dyes in their book A Rainbow of Risks.

Carmine starts to look a lot more tempting when we consider how hazardous these petroleum-based food colours are.

IS CARMINE HALAL?
As it comes from an insect, many people have questioned whether or not eating carmine is deemed halal. As a result, it's crucial to investigate Islamic teachings on eating insects and comprehend what exactly qualifies as an "animal product" instead of a manufactured or chemical substance.

The 4 essential schools of Islamic law which have given rulings regarding what can and can not be consumed are Hanafi (Maliki), Shafi'i and Hanbali.

Hanafi
The Hanafi states that certain insects, such as those of the locust or crow flies are edible. The explanation behind this is the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is reputedly said to have eaten grasshoppers and locusts whilst fighting.

Some researchers claim that other insect species - beetles, flies, spiders - are unacceptably low in blood - because they lack it. But haemolymph is a form of blood that all insects regardless of species possess.

Contrary to humans and some other animals, hemolymph isn't composed of red blood cells and is a combination of both lymphatic fluid and blood.

Hanbali and Shafi 'i are brothers.
The Shafii and Hanbali view insects as unattractive and unsuitable for food production. Conversely, insects can be consumed when there is a pressing need and no alternative food source is out there.

Maliki
Eating insects is acceptable according to the Maliki school of thinking if they are killed and prepared for consumption first. Devoid of any toxic substances. Carmine might be viewed in this context as an extract that has been prepared and processed for ingestion.

Ustadh Shuaib Ally stated that it is allowed to consume small numbers of insects if they are a component of another food item. Examples that are frequently used are an ant that accidentally fell into honey or a fly that accidentally fell into food and was cooked in it. A bug found in produce or grains is also a possible scenario.

The difficulty in removing it or the fact that eating such a tiny amount is not regarded as repulsive since the bug has been assimilated into a greater quantity and is no longer comparable to eating an insect alone are the justifications offered for its legality.

So question was:   Is Carmine Halal?

Answer: Yes