Coca-Cola is probably the most asked-about drink on any Halal list, mostly because of its famously secret flavouring. The published ingredient list is short, and everything on it can be read.
What is in a can of US Coca-Cola
The US product page for Coca-Cola Original Taste lists six ingredients.[2]
| Ingredient |
What it is |
Halal? |
| Carbonated water |
Water with dissolved carbon dioxide |
Yes |
| High-fructose corn syrup |
Sweetener made from maize starch |
Yes |
| Caramel colour (E150) |
Sugar heated until brown |
Yes |
| Phosphoric acid (E338) |
A mineral acid that gives cola its bite |
Yes |
| Natural flavors |
The secret cola flavouring |
Yes, see below |
| Caffeine |
Plant alkaloid, as in tea and coffee |
Yes |
The same page publishes separate lists for Caffeine Free Coca-Cola and for the Mexican bottles sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.
The secret flavouring
The recipe for the flavouring is a trade secret, which is where most of the rumours start. What is known is that cola flavours are built from citrus oils, spices and vanilla, and that some flavour houses dissolve such oils in a little ethanol before they are diluted into syrup. None is declared on the can, and the finished drink cannot intoxicate in any quantity, which is the test many Halal authorities apply to traces from a flavour carrier. Secrecy about proportions is not evidence of an animal or alcoholic ingredient.
What scholars have said
IslamQA answer 102749 names Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and 7-Up among fizzy drinks that are permissible to drink.[3] That is one published opinion rather than a survey of every scholar, and it does not name Sprite or Fanta, which are judged on their own labels. An older Egyptian fatwa from 1951 is often quoted about colas, but the text usually linked could not be confirmed, so it is not relied on.
What the answer does not cover
- Other Coca-Cola drinks. Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, the cherry and vanilla colas and Freestyle machine syrups use different sweeteners and flavourings. Read the one you are holding.
- Other countries. Coca-Cola is bottled under licence worldwide. The US list describes a US can.
- Certificates. No named Halal certificate for US Coca-Cola is on file here, so the answer rests on the ingredients. A bottler's printed Halal mark covers that bottler's product.
- Mixed drinks. The cola is a soft drink; rum and cola is not.
Pepsi is judged the same way, from its own US ingredient list.
