isithalal.food

Are Goldfish crackers 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

Goldfish are Pepperidge Farm's fish-shaped baked crackers.

Next step Goldfish Original has no cheese, only nonfat milk, so it raises no rennet question. Cheddar Goldfish list cheese made with 'enzymes' that Pepperidge Farm does not name, 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 flavour: Original lists nonfat milk, not cheese.
  2. Cheddar and other cheese flavours list 'enzymes' in the cheese, with the source not stated.
  3. No Goldfish pack we checked carries a Halal mark.
  4. If you avoid unnamed rennet, choose the Original.

Quick checks

  • Original: no cheese, no rennet.
  • Cheddar: 'enzymes', source not named.
  • No Halal mark on the packs.

What decides the answer

  • Cheddar Goldfish with microbial or plant enzymes

    Halal

  • Goldfish Original (nonfat milk, no cheese)

    no rennet question

  • Cheddar Goldfish with non-pork animal rennet

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

Why this ruling

Goldfish are Pepperidge Farm's fish-shaped baked crackers, sold mostly in the US. The answer differs between the plain Original and the cheese flavours.

Original: no cheese

The Original pack lists flour, vegetable oils, nonfat milk, salt, yeast, leavening, sugar, paprika, spices and onion.[2] There is no cheese, so there is no rennet question, and nothing on the list comes from a land animal.

Cheddar: the enzymes

The Cheddar pack lists cheddar cheese made from cultured milk, salt and "enzymes",[1] and so do the plant-coloured Colors packs.[3] Cheese enzymes are rennet, which can be microbial, plant or animal, and Pepperidge Farm doesn't say which it uses. No pack we checked carries a Halal mark.

If the rennet is microbial or plant-based, there is no question. If it is 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 the same question in another cheese cracker, see Cheez-It.

Where you'll find it

  • Fish-shaped baked cheese crackers
  • Lunchbox and after-school snacks
  • Soup and salad topping

Frequently asked questions

Are Goldfish crackers Halal?
Goldfish Original has no cheese, so it raises no rennet question. Cheddar Goldfish list cheese made with 'enzymes' that Pepperidge Farm doesn't name, so they depend on that rennet, and none carries a Halal mark.
Do Goldfish have pork in them?
The US lists we checked contain no pork and no gelatin. The only animal-related question is the cheese enzymes in cheese flavours.
Which Goldfish have no cheese?
The Original pack lists flour, vegetable oils, nonfat milk, salt, yeast, leavening, sugar, paprika, spices and onion, with no cheese and no enzymes.

Scholarly view

The question in cheese Goldfish is the enzyme used to make the cheddar. If it is microbial or plant rennet, no one objects. If it is 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. Goldfish Original avoids the question.

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. Goldfish Cheddar Baked Snack Crackers

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Enriched wheat flour, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto), canola and/or sunflower oils, under 2% of salt, yeast, sugar, autolysed yeast, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium bicarbonate, paprika, spices (celery), dehydrated onions.

  2. Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers, Original

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Unbleached enriched wheat flour, vegetable oils (canola, sunflower and/or soybean), nonfat milk, salt, under 2% of yeast, leavening, sugar, paprika, spices, dehydrated onions. No cheese.

  3. Goldfish Colors (colors sourced from plants), Cheddar

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Wheat flour, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), canola and/or sunflower oils, salt, yeast, sugar, spices, celery, onion powder, colours from annatto, beetroot, paprika, turmeric, huito and watermelon.

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