Costco® Kirkland Signature Pizza (Cheese and Veg.) is HALAL

My family and I are Costco® Wholesale shoppers and on our monthly trips we always sat down to a delicious giant pizza served by Costco®'s food court. And then we came to know of animal rennet - an enzyme used in cheese manufacturing! Not all cheeses are Haram because some companies; to cater to vegetarians, are switching to microbial enzymes which are Halal because they are from natural bacteria. So you always have to investigate about your pizza before you dig in.
We had stopped eating the Costco® pizza because of the doubts about Kirkland's cheeses.
However, I emailed the Costco® Wholesale Corporation's Member Services; they allow their registered members only to email queries and I emailed the question as follows:

"I would like to inquire about the cheese used in Kirkland's Cheese Pizza served at the restaurant cafe at Costco. Does the cheese contain animal-derived enzymes? Also, does the crust contain any animal products? Is it a pure vegetarian option for me?" 

The Member Services Team was very efficient and I received an email the very next day from a rep. called Brittany:

"Dear Ali,

We appreciate you taking the time to email Costco Wholesale. Our Pizza Dough contains: Flour, Water, Olive Oil, Sugar, Salt , and Yeast. The cheese on the pizzas is not Kosher certified. However, it is not processed using animal rennet. 

Thank you,
Brittany
Costco Wholesale Corporation"

NOTE: Please remember to carry your own pizza slicer with you to avoid contamination by meats transferred by the pizza slicer as they use the same for all pizzas.

ALLAH KNOWS BEST.

HALAL HUNT Index

Click on each product to read the details, iA:

• Popeye's® French Fries HALAL
• Papa John's® Cheese & Vegetarian Pizzas HALAL
• Safeway™ Bakery Products HALAL
• Chapstick® HALAL

Popeyes French Fries are HALAL!

If you log on to Popeye's website http://www.popeyes.com/, click on 'Food' and then 'Ingredients' it allows you to download a PDF file readable in Adobe Reader and it gives you a comprehensive list of all the ingredients. I am unsure about the Biscuits but the Fries are alhamdulillah, Halal! I've checked the ingredients! All good to go!

Papa John's® Cheese & Vegetarian Pizzas! Halal!

Pizza becomes doubtful because of the following reasons:

• Whey derived by animal enzyme (rennet) for the crust
• Cheese obtained by animal enzyme (rennet) 
• Haram meat
• Cross contamination by Haram meat due to the same pizza slicer used by the employees for all pizzas

The FAQ's on Papa John's website:

ENZYMES USED

"A majority of our products contain biosynthesized (artificially made) and/or vegetable-derived enzymes. Our Mozzarella cheese does NOT contain animal derived enzymes. The enzymes are from a microbial source (bacteria are used as like in yogurt production).

However, the cheese blend used on our Tuscan Six Cheese Pizza contains animal-derived enzymes.

Our hand-tossed original pizza dough contains fungal or bacterial derivatives.

Our garlic sauce contains lactic acid, which is not classified as an animal derivative since it is the result of microbiological fermentation of lactobacillus sp. bacteria (the natural bacteria used in making yogurt). Our Blue Cheese, Cheese sauce, Parmesan sauce and Ranch DO contain animal derived enzymes. Papa John's Parmesan cheese packets contain microbial (bacteria) enzymes."

Papa John's FAQ's: http://www.papajohns.com/faqs/index.shtm

CONCLUSIONS:

• Papa John's cheese pizza is HALAL
• Papa John's vegetarian pizza is HALAL
• Garlic sauce is HALAL
• Parmesan Cheese Packets are HALAL

NOTE: 

Ask the employee/server to wash the pizza slicer before your eyes to avoid cross contaminants. Or ask them not to slice the pizza and slice it yourself!

Safeway™ Bakery Products HALAL!

We've been buying Safeway's bakery items; bread, cakes, biscuits and the like, for quite some time now. When I realized that there are some Mashbooh (doubtful) ingredients as highlighted by the IFANCA, I was a bit concerned. The main concerns were:

• Whey
• Cheese
• Mono and Diglycerides

And so I took the time to email Safeway's Customer Care via a 'Contact Us' form on their website. You can access the form @ http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Comments#iframetop

And here is the correspondence:

Question Emailed

"What is the source of mono and diglycerides used in Safeway's baked products like cakes and pastries and pies? Are they of animal or plant origin?"

Reply from Safeway Customer Service Team:

Dear Mr./Ms. Ali:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your inquiry on our Bakery Products. 

Safeway makes a conscious effort to avoid lards that would contain animal by-products in our finished baked goods. 

The bakery industry has no policy in place concerning labeling of animal by products in baked goods, although Safeway does meet the requirements set by the Canadian government in regards to animal by-products in our finished goods.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to reply to this e-mail, or contact our customer service center at 1-888-723-3929 and one of our associates will be happy to assist you. Thank you for shopping at Safeway.

Sincerely,

Safeway Customer Service Team 

THE HALAL HUNT

  

HALAL HUNT Index

http://sisterlyyours.blogspot.com/2011/02/halal-hunt-index.html

*All HALAL products have been confirmed via web research or direct email correspondence with the manufacturers. Allah knows best.

Careless Muslims come up with EXCUSES for not keeping HALAL. Are you one of them? Are you one of those who live in the Americas or any other non-Muslim country and when asked, "Do you keep 100% Halal?" you give as lame excuses as these?:

• "I say Bismillah over the products and eat everything", said a lady in conversation with my Mom, "Who would read the tiny little ingredients labeling at the back of the packs? I can't read small text."
• "Mono and diglycerides are in everything, Anum," said a relative, "They're even in a simple loaf of bread! How much can you investigate?"
• "I listened to so and so Sheikh that day," said another source, "He said this and this is okay, even if Mashbooh and even if there's a tiny little quantity of Haram product in it."
  
  
  THE HALAL HUNT Features:

• Products that are confirmed Halal and have the Halal logo on them.
• Products that are confirmed Halal by my email correspondence with the product manufacturers.
• Products that are confirmed Halal by my knowledge of the chemical and biological names of the ingredients mentioned on them.

"O you who believe! Eat of the good things from what WE have provided you, and render thanks to ALLAH if it is HE whom you worship." (2:172)

"O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the Earth, and follow not the foot-steps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you." (2:168)

"O you who believe! Forbid not the good things which ALLAH has made 'lawful' for you and transgress not. Lo! ALLAH loves not transgressors. Eat of that which ALLAH has bestowed on you as food 'lawful' and good, and keep your duty to ALLAH in whom you are believers." (5:87-88)  

Simple Halal Hunt Practices

• Go through, thoroughly, all the articles of the IFANCA website
• READ the ingredients label at the back of the products! There is a reason they print it!
• EMAIL the stores if you're unsure about a product's ingredients! I do it and they reply!
• PRINT out the list of names of the ingredients you should avoid or watch out for. I am a pre-med student so I know most of the chemical names, alhamdulillah, but if you're not then you need to LEARN them!
• STAY UPDATED with Sisterly Yours Halal Hunt inshAllah and email me about the products you need to know about. I could email for you if you are one lazy bag of bones!

Chapstick® Products Good To Go!

You might want to think about what you're putting on those chapped lips this winter; it might be something non-Halal. After all, in pre-med school I studied how animal fat is used to make stuff like soaps and cosmetics! So; owing to the love I have for Chapstick® Classic Cherry, I did some research to check if I am not putting pork or cow fat on my lips! Ughh!
Chapstick® company states that they do not use any animal products except for sheep's lanolin and bee's white wax. The bee, we know, does not pose any problems of Halal and Haram. Both honey and wax are Halal. Let's talk about the lanolin of sheep.

Lanolin is an oily liquid secreted by the sebaceous glands of a sheep.

What are sebaceous glands? 
Let me put my medical knowledge into application! They're these sacs under the deepest layers of skins that release different secretions. In us humans the sweat comes from the sebaceous glands and in sheep these glands secrete lanolin, subhaanAllah. The sheep is alive when the lanolin is collected so there is no issue of it being Halal or Haram.

Sources:
Chapstick® website FAQ's
http://www.chapstick.com/faq.aspx
Lanolin description on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin