About Cheez-It
Cheez-It is popular for its crunchy cheesy crackers that comes in many flavours and spices.
Extra Crunchy Bold Cheddar and Snap’d Extra Crunchy Sharp White Cheddar are the two new addition to Cheez-it line starting January 2024. In this article we will understand if Cheez-It Extra Crunchy Halal or Haram.
Cheez-Its products are in curiosity for Muslims around globe to check if they are following halal dietary rules or not. Let us uncover the mystery surrounding Cheez-It Extra Crunchy halal status.
There are basically three important checklist to determine halal status of any food product. The first is to check the ingredients that are used in the making not the product. Second the process of the manufacturing like is it going with the halal guidelines or not. Third easiest one is to check the halal certification trademark on the product’s packaging.
Let us breakdown it and check what all ingredients are used in the making of the Cheez-It Extra Crunchy crackers.
Ingredients used in Cheez-it Extra Crunchy are as follows
Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin B1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin B2 [riboflavin], folic acid), vegetable oil (high oleic soybean, soybean, palm, and/or canola with TBHQ for freshness), modified food starch, cheese made with skim milk (skim milk, whey protein, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes, annatto extract color). Contains 2% or less of salt, maltodextrin, paprika for color, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), buttermilk, monosodium glutamate, onion powder, lactic acid, garlic powder, dextrose, sour cream (cream, nonfat milk, cultures), mono- and diglycerides, yeast, paprika extract color, natural flavor, disodium phosphate, citric acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, annatto extract color, soy lecithin.
The list is pretty long, with stuff like enriched flour, vegetable oil, white cheddar cheese, and various additives. Vegetable oil, Enriched flour, are normally halal. But it is important to check the sources of cheese, monosodium glutamate, milk and artificial flavors as they have maximum chances of coming from haram or non-permitted sources.
The enzymes used in the making of white cheddar may not always be halal. This prominent ingredient can make the whole lot of product as haram. Now the enzymes used the enzymes used in Cheez-It are not sourced from animals is clarified by the company.
However, there are many supplier for the Cheez-it and detailed information regarding processing and sourcing for some ingredients remains undisclosed.
The milk is mainly animal-derived ingredient. It is important to be sure what is the source of the milk. Are the animals used for milking are themselves haram or halal. Halal animals are like pig or pork. If any ingredient is used that comes from haram animals then the product will become haram for muslims.
Is Cheez-it Halal Certified or Not
Social Media Twitter Reply on Halal Status of Cheez-it
We have got a tweet reply by the company cheez-it wherein a user asked about the halal status of the cheese-it. Kindly see the link below.
Thanks for reaching out. We’re aware of the growing interest in products certified as halal and we will continue to evaluate halal certification. At this time we do not offer halal-certified products in the US.
— CHEEZ-IT (@cheezit) January 27, 2021
It clearly states that Cheez-it has not procured any Halal certification in the US. So in nutshell, Cheez-It products are not halal certified.
Conclusion
Is Cheez-It Extra Crunchy Halal or Haram ? The product look halal as there is nothing suspicious from the ingredients list. The company also emphasize that they use ingredients coming from plant sources primarily. However the absence of Halal certification always leave a space for doubt.
We emphasize that users should always probe the ingredient list of specific Cheez-It products for complete assurance. The product variety and the geographical location can also affect the ingredient list and their halal status.