Haribo Gummy Bears are a delicacy that neither children nor adults can resist. But is this favorite movie snack or after-work treat Halal or Haram In Islam?
Haribo Gummy Bears are so popular worldwide that the market demand is so great that Haribo claims its annual production is so great that their gummy bears would circle the world ten times.
Haribo is one of the largest manufacturers of confectionery in the world.
It is clear that Haribo Gummy Bears are tasty, irresistible, and popular, but are their composition and method of production halal or haram?
In addition to Haribo, many other companies produce gummies on the market. Among the most famous are Chewwies, Betty Crocker, Bassett’s, Hershey’s, Kellogg’s, and Disney.
But are these manufacturers’ gummy snacks halal or haram in Islam?
Chewwies products can be claimed to be 100% halal and do not contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, lactose, gluten, and soy.
For all other manufacturers, we would have to determine individually whether they are halal or haram based on the ingredients they use in production.
Haribo is a company that has production in many countries around the world. About one hundred million gummy bears are produced daily in these factories.
Haribo has production in Germany, Spain, Austria, France, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Great Britain, Brazil, and Turkey, but Haribo Gummy Bears differ in one very important way.
Only in Turkey, Haribo Gummy Bears are produced using gelatin that complies with Halal food rules and regulations. This gelatin used to make Haribo Gummy Bears in Turkey is beef and fully halal.
In Germany, Spain, Austria, France, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Great Britain, and Brazil, pork gelatin produces Haribo Gummy Bears, and Haribo products from those factories are not halal.
From all these countries, Haribo Gummy Bears are distributed to at least one hundred other countries where they are on the market.
In the United States, Haribo Gummy Bears are sold that are produced in many other countries besides Turkey.
Still, only those products with a label on the packaging confirming that they are produced in Turkey are considered halal.
Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Turkey can be found in many other countries besides Turkey.
Are Haribo Gummy Bears Produced in Turkey Halal or Haram In Islam?
Haribo gummy bears produced in Turkey comply with halal dietary regulations.
Unlike Haribo gummy bears produced in some other countries, Haribo gummy bears produced in Turkey have a halal certificate found on the packaging of this product.
In the factories in Turkey where Haribo products are produced, care is taken to ensure that the production is completely in accordance with halal standards so that Muslims can use this delicacy.
The gelatin used for Haribo Gummy Bears in Turkey is beef from cattle slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines.
This product has halal certificates from the European Halal Certification Institute (EHZ) and the Turk Standardari Enstitusu (TSE).
The production of Haribo Gummy Bears is under the strict supervision of the authorities in Turkey, which guarantees that at all times in these production facilities, everyone adheres to Islamic guidelines on the production, storage, and distribution of food.
Haribo Gummy Bears Halal is exported from Turkey to many Muslim countries.
This product is easy to recognize among similar Haribo Gummy Bears products because the packaging has a halal certificate in a visible place, as well as a notice about the country of origin.
Check the gelatin’s source by looking for the country of origin of the Haribo Gummy Bears on the back of the Haribo USA package.
If it says “Made in Turkey” or “Product from Turkey” in that place, the product has passed halal control in Turkey and is safe to use.
If Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, or France are listed as countries of origin on the back of the Haribo USA package, pork gelatin was used for that product, which is haram.
Do Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Turkey taste different?
Haribo Gummy Bears that are produced in Turkey are almost indistinguishable in taste from Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Brazil, and France.
The differences are not too big, and the biggest difference is in the texture, which is noticeable at first glance.
Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Turkey differ from Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Brazil, or France in addition to their texture, in that they have enhanced aromas and flavors of fruit and are less sweet.
Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Turkey are softer and have a jelly-like texture.
Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, and France have a chewier texture.
Ingredients of Haribo Gummy Bears
The following ingredients are used to produce Haribo Gummy Bears: Glucose syrup, sugar, citric acid, beeswax, carnauba wax, artificial colors, natural and artificial flavors, and gelatin.
Glucose syrup is used in the food industry. For example, it is known as a confectioner’s glucose.
Glucose syrup is obtained from plant raw materials such as wheat, potatoes, corn, rice, tapioca, cassava, and barley.
Glucose syrup is sticky and sweet, and combined with other ingredients in the production of Haribo Gummy Bears, its specific properties ensure that the product’s structure is soft and chewy.
Glucose syrup is used in the food industry as a sweetener and thickening agent.
As the sources for obtaining glucose syrup are of natural plant origin, this ingredient is halal.
Citric acid is obtained from citrus fruits, often lemons or limes.
This ingredient provides Haribo Gummy Bears with a distinctive sourness.
Citric acid is halal because it is obtained from natural citrus fruits.
Sugar is the main sweetener in the production of Haribo Gummy Bears.
Today, sugar is produced by processing sugar beet and sugar cane. Although there is sugar in the tissues of most plants, there is not enough of it for efficient and profitable processing.
Sugar cane plantations are located in tropical areas, while sugar beet is grown in colder zones.
Sugar only became available to ordinary people in the 18th century because sugarcane production expanded.
In the past, food could be sweetened mainly with honey, but today it is almost unthinkable to produce something in the food industry without sugar.
A package of Haribo Gummy Bears containing thirteen gummy bears contains fourteen grams of sugar.
The daily recommended sugar intake is a maximum of twenty-five grams for women and thirty-six grams for men.
Sugar obtained from natural plant sources is halal.
Beeswax is an ingredient used at the very end of the production of Haribo Gummy Bears. Beeswax adds shine and prevents them from sticking to each other in the package.
Haribo Gummy Bears are sprayed with a thin yellow and white beeswax stream.
Both yellow and white beeswax are natural products bees produce, and both waxes are halal.
White beeswax is obtained by bleaching the yellow wax produced when the worker bee’s comb is melted.
Beeswax contains propolis, so it is a natural preservative.
There are two types of beeswax available on the market: Oriental and European beeswax.
Carnauba wax is an ingredient used at the very end of the production of Haribo Gummy Bears. Carnauba wax has the same purpose as beeswax and serves to prevent the Haribo Gummy Bears from sticking to each other and provides a shine on the surface.
Both beeswax and carnauba wax are applied in a thin stream to Haribo Gummy Bears.
Carnauba wax is obtained from palm trees in Brazil. Therefore, it is also called Brazilian wax.
Carnauba wax increases the consistency and viscosity and gives strength, hardness, and form to Haribo Gummy Bears.
Carnauba wax is a natural vegetable wax and is halal.
Artificial colors are an ingredient used to create the different colors of Haribo Gummy Bears.
Haribo Gummy Bears use combinations of color additives approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The use of colors in food production has a very important role.
We often choose food based on its appearance, and colors have the most decisive influence on this.
Sometimes the recognizable color of a brand attracts our attention, and often colors help us recognize the desired food products.
Natural and artificial colors are used in the food industry.
Natural colors have the “E” mark. For example, the yellow color from turmeric is marked with E100, and the orange from saffron is marked with E160a.
Natural colors are obtained from plant sources and cannot be called additives.
Artificial colors are additives or food coloring agents that are produced artificially.
The following artificial colors are used for Haribo Gummy Bears: Yellow 5, Red 40, and Blue 1. Combining these three artificial colors results in the entire cheerful range of Haribo Gummy Bears.
Natural and artificial flavors are very important ingredient of Haribo Gummy Bears because they provide the aromas of the six recognizable fruit flavors that this product has.
Haribo Gummy Bears come in apple, raspberry, orange, pineapple, strawberry, and lemon flavors. Each flavor is always the same color, so we can expect the desired aroma in advance.
Haribo Gummy Bears with lemon flavor are yellow.
Haribo Gummy Bears with pineapple flavor are colorless.
Orange-flavored Haribo Gummy Bears are orange.
Haribo Gummy Bears with raspberry flavor are red.
Apple-flavored Haribo Gummy Bears are green.
Haribo Gummy Bears with strawberry flavor are bright red.
Are natural flavors always better and safer than artificial ones?
These questions are not easy to answer with a yes or no, because both artificial and natural flavors are, in fact, of the same chemical composition.
Still, it is sometimes safer to use artificial flavors because they can intervene and throw out dangerous substances normally present in some natural flavors.
For example, extracted natural almond flavors may contain toxic cyanide, while artificial almond flavor certainly does not have these substances, and the taste is the same as the natural flavor.
Haribo Gummy Bears contain artificial and natural flavors that are halal.
Gelatin is an essential ingredient in Haribo Gummy Bears, giving this product its chewy texture.
Gelatin is obtained by cooking animals’ ligaments, tendons, bones, and skin.
Only Haribo Gummy Bears produced in Turkey use beef gelatin, which is halal, and factories in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, and France use pork gelatin, which is haram.
How did Haribo Gummy Bears come about?
Pastry chef Hans Riegel was only twenty-seven when he started a private business in Bonn in 1920. He named the company Haribo by combining letters of his hometown and letters of his first and last name.
The first sweets that he and his wife made for sale were hard and colorless, and he decided on gummy candies later because he noticed that these kinds of sweets sold very well in Germany in those years.
The gummy candies were shaped like teddy bears because Hans remembered the bears that danced at a children’s festival.
And so a legend was born!
Conclusion
Haribo Gummy Bears are produced in many countries and distributed worldwide from them, but only those produced in Turkey are halal.
Therefore, it is most important to check on the packaging whether Haribo Gummy Bears are produced in Turkey.
Haribo Gummy Bears produced according to halal standards usually indicate on the packaging that the product has a halal certificate or check the product’s country of origin.
Haribo Gummy Bears, sold in Haribo USA, have the product’s country of origin indicated on the packaging.
Thus you will determine the origin of the gelatin used in production.
You can check the source of the gelatin by looking for the country of origin of the Haribo Gummy Bears on the bottom half of the back of the Haribo USA package.
If it says “Made in Turkey” or “Product from Turkey” in that place, the product has passed halal control in Turkey and is safe to use.
In other cases, if Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, or France are listed as countries of origin on the bottom half of the back of the Haribo USA package, pork gelatin was used for that product, which is haram.
More topics to discover:
