isithalal.food

Are Cheez-It Halal?

It depends on what the label says.

Halal if verified
Medium confidence About this ruling

About this ruling

Condition
Verify the product or supplier in hand
Evidence confidence
Medium means the sources are named, but they do not pin the evidence to a specific market or product. Use this page as orientation, then read the pack in your hand.
How we score High, Medium, and Low

Reviewed

The Cheez-It boxes we checked are US packs.

Next step Cheez-It crackers are flour, vegetable oil and cheese, and the cheese lists 'enzymes' without naming their source. No box carries a Halal mark, so their Halal status rests on that rennet. How to verify
Scan a label

Photo: Open Food Facts contributors · CC BY-SA 3.0

How to verify

  1. Read the box: the cheese lists 'enzymes', source not stated.
  2. Flavours such as White Cheddar add more cheese, also with enzymes.
  3. No Cheez-It box we checked carries a Halal mark.
  4. If you avoid unnamed rennet, choose a cracker without cheese.

Quick checks

  • Cheese 'enzymes': source not named.
  • No pork, no gelatin listed.
  • No Halal mark on the boxes.

What decides the answer

  • Cheez-It with microbial or plant enzymes

    Halal

  • Cheez-It with non-pork animal rennet

    permitted per SeekersGuidance (Hanafi); not per most other schools (IslamQA)

  • Enzyme source not stated (all boxes checked)

    Halal if verified

Why this ruling

Cheez-It are square baked cheese crackers sold in the US. Their list is short, and one ingredient decides the Halal answer: the enzymes in the cheese.

What's in them

The Original boxes list enriched flour, vegetable oil, cheese made with skim milk, then salt, paprika, yeast, paprika extract and soy lecithin.[1][2] The cheese is skim milk, whey protein, salt, cheese cultures, "enzymes" and annatto. Flavours such as White Cheddar add a second cheese, also made with enzymes, along with whey, butter and flavourings.[3]

The enzymes

Cheese enzymes are rennet, which can be microbial, plant or animal, and the boxes don't say which. None carries a Halal mark.

Microbial or plant rennet raises no question. For animal rennet, scholars differ. SeekersGuidance, a Hanafi source, permits rennet from non-pork animals whether or not they were slaughtered Islamically.[4] IslamQA reports that most Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali scholars hold rennet from an animal not slaughtered Islamically to be impure.[5]

For a cheese cracker with a no-cheese option, see Goldfish.

Where you'll find it

  • Square baked cheese crackers
  • Snack packs and lunchboxes
  • Party mixes

Frequently asked questions

Are Cheez-Its Halal?
They depend on the cheese enzymes. The boxes list cheese made with 'enzymes' without naming their source, and none carries a Halal mark. Everything else on the Original list is flour, vegetable oil, dairy, salt, spices and yeast.
Do Cheez-Its contain pork?
The US lists we checked contain no pork and no gelatin. The only animal-related question is the rennet in the cheese.
Are White Cheddar Cheez-Its different?
They list two cheeses, white cheddar and cheddar, both made with enzymes, plus whey, butter, monosodium glutamate and flavourings. The rennet question is the same.

Scholarly view

The question in Cheez-It is the enzyme used to make the cheese. Microbial or plant rennet raises no objection. For animal rennet, scholars differ: SeekersGuidance (Hanafi) permits rennet from non-pork animals whether or not they were slaughtered Islamically, while IslamQA reports that most Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali scholars hold rennet from an animal not slaughtered Islamically to be impure. Pork rennet is excluded by all.

Sources

Named Islamic, certifier, manufacturer, and regulatory sources used on this page. Inline markers like [1] jump here. Retrieval dates show when we last checked the live URL. Editorial methodology.

Islamic / scriptural

  1. SeekersGuidance — Is rennet in cheese Halal or Haram to consume?

    SeekersGuidance Retrieved

    Hanafi: non-porcine animal rennet is permissible whether the slaughter was Islamic or not; porcine excluded.

  2. IslamQA 2841 — Is animal rennet Halal?

    Islam Question & Answer Retrieved

    Rennet from an Islamically slaughtered animal is pure by all four schools. The majority Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali view: rennet from an animal not slaughtered according to the Shari'ah is impure and should not be eaten; the Hanafi view differs.

Manufacturer / product

  1. Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Enriched flour, vegetable oil (high oleic soybean, soybean, palm and canola oil, TBHQ), cheese made with skim milk (skim milk, whey protein, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes, annatto extract), 2% salt, paprika, yeast, paprika extract, soy lecithin.

  2. Cheez-It Original (box 0024100106851)

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Enriched flour, vegetable oil (soybean and palm oil with TBHQ), cheese made with skim milk (skim milk, whey protein, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto extract), under 2% of salt, paprika, yeast, paprika extract, soy lecithin.

  3. Cheez-It White Cheddar Baked Snack Crackers

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Enriched flour, vegetable oil, white cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), salt, whey, cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), monosodium glutamate, whey protein concentrate, butter, baking soda, yeast, natural and artificial flavourings, lactic acid, calcium lactate, disodium phosphate, citric acid.

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