Are Fish and Chips Halal?

Fish and chips is Britain's classic takeaway: white fish in batter with thick-cut chips. The fish itself is Halal.^[2] What makes a chip-shop portion Halal if verified is how it is cooked: the frying fat, the batter, and what else goes through the same fryer.^[1]

The three things that decide it

• The frying fat. Most shops fry in vegetable oil, but traditional shops, particularly in northern England and Scotland, fry in beef dripping. Dripping from cattle that were not slaughtered Islamically makes both the fish and the chips doubtful.
• The batter. Many shops use a plain flour-and-water or sparkling-water batter; some use beer batter. Beer is an alcoholic drink, and a batter made with it is avoided.^[4]
• The shared fryer. Chip shops also fry battered sausages and saveloys, which are usually pork, as well as chicken and burgers. If they share oil with your fish, the fish shares the question.

Sides and extras

Chips cooked in the same oil follow the oil. Mushy peas are just peas. Curry sauce and gravy are often made from granules or stock that can contain meat, so ask. Malt vinegar, the traditional splash, has its own page. Scampi is shellfish, which the schools treat differently: see shellfish.

Finding a Halal chip shop

Across the UK, many shops advertise "Halal" or "vegetable oil only" in the window, and some are supervised by a certifier such as the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) for the chicken and meat they sell.^[3] Where there is no sign, ask what the fryers use, whether the batter contains beer, and whether sausages go in the same oil. A "yes, vegetable oil, separate fryer, no beer" answer gives you a Halal portion.