[A-New-Hope]

Here is an issue that may affect us all and discussion may help find solutions. InshaAllah.

As you may have read in recent threads I have been stocking up on the tasty Walkers Wotsits (halfprice @morrisons £1.74)). I bought half a dozen multipacks (14 pk) and they are labelled suitable for veg. I decided to check online the halal status of the cheesy Wotsits before deciding to stock up more taking advantage of the current offer. Anyway I found that the GMWA halal guide website had removed the list of walkers products from their site as the crisp company no longer provided them the required information. See the page for yourself:

http://www.gmwa.org....question&id=191

I decided to not purchase anymore due to the doubt but I deemed no reason not to consume those already purchased. Allah SWT Provides and we trust in him. We give up doubtful things and don't worry about missing out on 'offer's'.

Later some thoughts occurred to me:

- GMWA said Walkers have (or had) a list of certified halal products. Does this mean that another halal organisation have certified them as halal?

- Are we being deprived of a halal option only due to lack of communication between the parties and this does not mean the products are haraam. [On later reflection, the halal guide cannot decide without required info therefore we are stuck because we should stay on the safe side]

- Normally there wouldn't be a problem as we would go by the 'suitable for veg' guide. This is an unnecessary situation.

- There are a lot of products that we will have to avoid. Even Walker's Quavers are on at halprice at tesco (18pk for £2).


I decided to ring up Walkers and try to get info that will help me decide, such as whether the company has halal endorsement from some other muslim organisation. I was put thru to a friendly lady and I explained the situation. She said that the company doesn't claim 'halal' certification but claim suitability for vegetarians. She said the products do not contain ethanol. I asked about the cheese used and whether it was suitable for veg. She checked and said yes. I told her about the website and the confusion caused. I eventually ended the conversation as it was clear she couldn't give me any info that could clear up the confusion. I told her that it is the lack of communication between Walkers and the online halal guide that was the problem.

After the call I realised I should have given her the name of the website and insisted that they take a look. I didn't as I was waiting for her to show an interest in the website which didn't happen. I didn't want to push it. Looking at the website may have persuaded them to take the issue seriously. She was very friendly and offered to send a list of suitable for veg products which I deemed unnecessary as the list of halal products is available online even though it's been removed by GMWA. She invited me to ring anytime etc. It's an idea to contact them again but after a 5 minute convo I don't want bother them again just yet. I could explain to them about potential problems such as 'whey powder' 'rennet' etc and the importance of providing GMWA the required info.

I've just seen family members return home having bought Quavers multipacks from Home Bargains. You see the problem?
They will have to sort it out quick.

[qalam]

salam

so let me get this straight!

• 3 Muslim nations have been invaded by foreign powers,
  
• the military might of western natoins have taken over key locations on 3 continents namely asia, middle east and africa, m
  
• uslim blood and honour is being raped and looted,
  
• there is no end in sight for te illegal occupations
  
• and you ....

want to tell us about the escapades of your crisp hunting adventures................!!!!!!!!!!!!



No wonder the ummah is in this state!

dr aq

[A-New-Hope]

I was taken aback a little by the -1 on my post. I refreshed and see brother Qalam's post. Lol. The negative rating doesn't feel as bad now.

Putting the running gag to one side this is a genuine problem. How many of us consume one Walkers product or another? How many are aware of the removal of walkers producst list from the Halal Guide GMWA?

Examples of products:

Walkers crisps
Wotsits
Quavers
Sensations
Doritos
French Fries
and much more...

[Desert-Sheikh]

qalam, on 12 December 2011 - 06:24 PM, said:

salam

so let me get this straight!

[*]3 Muslim nations have been invaded by foreign powers,
[*]the military might of western natoins have taken over key locations on 3 continents namely asia, middle east and africa, m
[*]uslim blood and honour is being raped and looted,
[*]there is no end in sight for te illegal occupations
[*]and you ....

want to tell us about the escapades of your crisp hunting adventures................!!!!!!!!!!!!
dr aq

So, the rest of the Muslim should start eating and drinking Haram?

[qalam]

DO NOT GET PERSONAL

Stick to the topic.

If anyone votes you down, it's not their problem but yours.

TMS

This post has been edited by The-Mughal-Sister: 12 December 2011 - 07:16 PM

[Abdul09]

qalam, on 12 December 2011 - 06:24 PM, said:

salam

so let me get this straight!

• 3 Muslim nations have been invaded by foreign powers,
  
• the military might of western natoins have taken over key locations on 3 continents namely asia, middle east and africa, m
  
• uslim blood and honour is being raped and looted,
  
• there is no end in sight for te illegal occupations
  
• and you ....

want to tell us about the escapades of your crisp hunting adventures................!!!!!!!!!!!!



No wonder the ummah is in this state!

dr aq

Asalaam Alai Kum

@Indycisive
Avoid snacks with cheddar cheese.

@Qalaam

Bas Kar Mian!
Har Baat Ki Had Hoti Hai Mian!

Wasalaam Alai Kum.

[piara-madinah]

Take them back ask the refund and try to avoid crisp etc and buy them from mithai shop.

[A-New-Hope]

Indycisive said:

Quote

Putting the running gag to one side this is a genuine problem.

I was referring to my own partly running gag about stocking up. It could have been seen as referring to brother Qalam's 'state of the ummah' running gag.

Moving on.

Im sure some historian may have come up with the phrase:

"Indicisiveness is in the nature of man."

Im aware that if you come to a decision or are advised on such a matter as halal/haram/doubtful etc then you should stick by it and stand firm. Be decisive. Move on. In this case there was more to it which was worthy of a discussion and further scrutiny.

Another thing. I don't want to look like an idiot with this stocking up thing so I want to clarify. Here is an example of one benefit of stocking up on 'offers':

A child normally spends a pound everyday after school buying a crisp packet and a chocolate bar. Instead of this pound a wise parent could provide the child with a packet of crisp and chocolate snack worth about 11p each. Saving about 80 pence a day. An individual wotsit pack from the current half price multipack offer works out to about 12p. A 2 finger kitkat (from a 9 X 2-finger pack -£1 each [89p off] which I have stocked up) works out at 11p.

This last bit may be off-topic a little and reminds me of Sister Malaikah's suggestion of a thread dedicated to 'offers' and other ideas.

Also:

Indycisive said:

Quote

It's an idea to contact them again but after a 5 minute convo I don't want bother them again just yet.

Wasn't referring to the cost of the call. It was a free call number.

Sister Piara Madinah said:

Quote

Take them back ask the refund and try to avoid crisp etc and buy them from mithai shop.

The products are labelled suitable for veg and there is no specific information to suggest these products are haraam. What has changed is the halt in communication between the company and GMWA. My judgement was that it was best to suspend any further purchase of these products, and regarding those already purchased, to consume them. If I felt there was any specific indication of them being haraam I wouldn't consume them.

Last point. The main reason for this thread was to see how other people would confront the confusion. Some will say 'leave it', avoid the doubtful and move on. Perhaps others will raise interesting questions, suggestions and ideas?

[Abdul09]

piara-madinah, on 12 December 2011 - 07:41 PM, said:

Take them back ask the refund and try to avoid crisp etc and buy them from mithai shop.

lol

[FSA]

del

[adnanghurabaa]

Salaam

Did you guys know that vanilla extract is haraam?

It shocked me...

Regards
Adnan

[FSA]

Salaam

Should have a word with Gary Lineker to look into it. Should've asked them to put you thru to him when you phoned up. Perhaps he could mediate.

Salaam

[piara-madinah]

Abdul09, on 12 December 2011 - 07:57 PM, said:

lol

I mean if in doubt have the refund and buy from mithai shop means from pakistani snack shop , they fry there own crisp and pack.

[A-New-Hope]

Ok. I see Mars products are off the GMWA site too. I was searching to check the status of M&M's (peanut) which a family member bought at the supermarket. At the time I stated a doubt about them.

According to the website Mars 'are taking another Halal certification route'. They are no longer providing required info to GMWA. I wonder what 'other' route this is? If we can indentify this other 'route' and it's validity then we can decide if we can ignore GMWA.

http://www.gmwa.org....question&id=197

Another thing. Chewit and Vimto multipack are/were halfprice at Morrisons. On GMWA they are listed as Halal with following footnotes:

Quote

* Please note that some flavourings (an ingredient in Chewits) do contain alcohol as a carrier/solvent. However flavouring is only a small percentage of the recipe and due to the high temperature of the product when flavour is added, the alcohol will evaporate thus leaving the product alcohol free.

They have not told us which products contain the alcohol flavouring, so we cannnot advise any further you in that respect, if you wish to refrain. However, our ruling is below.

Alcoholic Flavourings Clarification:

Alcohols used as a carrier for food colourings and flavourings are permissible as long as they are not sourced from dates or grapes.

Read the full article here:
Alcohol Flavourings Clarification -

http://www.gmwa.org....question&id=225

What's your opinion? A second opnion would be appreciated. Im thinking of buying them.

Also can alcohol be sourced from other than Dates and grapes? From apples or other fruits? What would the status be of alcohols sorced from such? I may have misunderstood.