Is Pretzel Halal?

A pretzel is a knot of bread dough dipped in an alkaline bath before baking. The bath is what makes the crust dark brown, glossy and slightly bitter. Germany's Laugenbrezel is the model: flour, water, yeast, salt and malt, dipped in lye and scattered with coarse salt.^[4] A plain pretzel made that way has no animal ingredient and is Halal.^[2] What keeps the page at "if verified" is the fat in the dough, the brush of butter afterwards, and what comes with it.^[1]

The fat

Many bakeries add a little fat to the dough to soften it. It is usually butter, margarine or vegetable oil, all Halal. Some traditional southern German recipes use lard, which is pork fat and not Halal; see lard. A bakery can tell you in one sentence which it uses. A Butterbrezel, a pretzel split and spread with butter, is Halal.

The dip

Food-grade lye (sodium hydroxide) or a baking-soda solution is only an alkali. It raises no Halal question, and baking neutralises what is left on the crust.^[3]

What comes with it

• Weißwurst breakfast: in Bavaria pretzels are served with white veal and pork sausages and wheat beer. The pretzel is fine; the plate is not.
• Pretzel dogs and sausage rolls in pretzel dough: the sausage decides. See bratwurst.
• Obatzda, the Bavarian cheese dip, is often made with a splash of beer; see beer.
• Cheese toppings raise the rennet question; see cheese.

Mall pretzels and hard pretzels

Soft pretzels from mall and airport chains are usually flour, yeast, sugar and salt, brushed with butter. Sweet versions add cinnamon sugar; dips vary and are worth a look. Crunchy hard pretzels in bags are normally flour, salt, oil and malt. For both, the brand's ingredient list or a vegetarian mark settles it. Flavoured coatings, such as yoghurt, chocolate or cheese powder, add their own checks.

For other German bakery and side dishes, see spätzle and sauerkraut, and for bread in general, bread.