Kraft Mozzarella Singles

The last time I saw halal-friendly processed cheese slices they were Loblaws' No-Name brand, some fat-free 'cheddar' singles.

They didn't taste too great; perhaps why they were pulled, in Calgary at least. (My brother says they're still available in Vancouver.)

Anyways, in my usual perusal of stuff I wished I could eat as a kid - Lucky Charms, et al - I came across this, the first Singles Kraft has made without any animal ingredients like pepsin, rennet, or lipase. I also decided to make it the product I would use to revive this little blog.

If you've been longing for halal cheese slices, here you go. These go for $5.00 (CAD) at Superstore, and while they aren't the usual cheddar processed slices, they are easier on the calories (60/slice). Processed cheese slices are never healthy, but with moderation and laying off the real crap like mayo, they're fine.


Enjoy.

After Years in the Wilderness, Canada Sees Halal Skittles

Gulf countries, Malaysia and Singapore have all enjoyed Skittles (and Starburst) made with Halal gelatin for years now; Mars Foods UK realised nearly a decade ago that making Skittles with vegetable ingredients would massively increase their market share by appealing to the sizable Muslim, Hindu, and vegetarian communities in that country - and so it is with all flavours.

North America, however, only ever saw sans gelatin Skittles Littles for a short time between 2004-2006, before they apparently failed to catch on and vanished from store shelves - until these Skittles above came along.

This anomaly, noticed by my younger sister Hira, junk food connoisseur, is the Skittles Berry Explosion/de baies (the lame translation of packaging into poor French marches on as ever) variety of the hard-shelled candy - in their 151 g package. They do not contain any gelatin or other animal ingredients.

Not exactly as good as the UK has it, but then we are spared that hideous black currant flavour the Brits are apparently smitten with, which goes to show how serious the effects of widespread Seasonal Affective Disorder are in the land of constant gloom, brick, chavs - and the Daily Mail.

PC Wild Pacific Salmon Mini Wellingtons

President's Choice has had a larger, full-sized salmon wellington around for years , but it contains animal-based gelatin - of all things .

These miniature salmon wellingtons PC has recently come out with are, however, all good; they do contain L-cysteine, but it is, I've confirmed, sourced from duck feathers, not human hair harvested in India (bloody hell).

The dill taste to these is a bit stronger than I'd like, and I'd still love a full-size halal seafood pastry for once, but these are fine otherwise, and available from Loblaws (Superstore, Real Foods, etc) supermarkets in Canada.

In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt, would it, to let PC know there is a strong muslim market for halal seafood items, and email them. Surely there's an alternative to gelatin.

welcome

i've created this blog to nurture a small place where i can post little things that i've discovered are halal, whether i am in canada or japan.

with everything from cysteine to lipase in many everyday shelf foods, it's always nice to come across a nice halal alternative.

readers are welcome to submit their own little discoveries from around the world.

take care, wassalamu'alaikum.