remember this effects us all regardless of our religion, whilst personally i loved the odd mars bar and enjoyed a twix - now i must be forced to refrain from their chocolate ( maybe this is the only way to break my addiction to chocs )anyway i have already emailed everyone in my addressbook, muslim, jewish and hindu brothers and sisters included (it was a hindu brother who brought this to my attention only a few days ago)- its sad that whilst companies try to increase their customer base others try to cut costs and provide rubbish in their products.
Anyway i think the best way to deal with this initially is SPREAD THE WORD MARS ETC HAS PIG AND COW INTESTINAL RUBBISH IN ITS PRODUCTS.

I guess when people start to ignore their products on the shelfs then MARS will come round!

PLEASE TELL ALL ABOUT THIS... Only recently my own sister (another Choc Addict) brought a Bounty - that was taken back immieditely.

NO TO ANIMALS IN OUR CHOCLATES!

i do not have any intention of eating dead baby cows dipped in chocolate!

mars thanks for putting me off your chocolates -

This issue is well known in the Jewish community and their relgious leadership has ruled on it. As I expect everyone should know the data kept by the Kosher authorities is extensive and information is easily availble to all peoples about the contents of prepared food items. Perhaps it is time for the various groups that are concerned about the contents of prepared / manufactured food items to get together and ensure this informationis more widely available. There is much to learn from these Jewish institutions about enforcing labelling and conducting inspections.
The amount of animal rennet in these products is measured in millionths and thus virtually negligible.

Contrary to the email circulated yesterday, please find enclosed a
clarification on the issue of rennet in confectionary products.
You will be pleased to discover that all the Masterfoods products
are still halal.



The following fatwa by The European Council for Fatwa and Research
clarifies the issue of ingredients in ready to eat manufactured
products. Below are the names of the scholars in the council:


1. Professor Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, President of ECFR ( Egypt , Qatar )

2. Judge Sheikh Faisal Maulawi, Vice-President ( Lebanon )

3. Sheikh Hussein Mohammed Halawa, General Secretary ( Ireland )

4. Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Jaballah ( France )

5. Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Ali Al-Imam ( Sudan )

6. Sheikh Mufti Ismail Kashoulfi ( UK )

7. Ustadh Ahmed Kadhem Al-Rawi ( UK )

8. Sheikh Ounis Qurqah ( France )

9. Sheikh Rashid Al-Ghanouchi ( UK )

10. Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Ibn Bayya ( Saudi Arabia )

11. Sheikh Abdul Raheem Al-Taweel ( Spain )

12. Judge Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Ali Salem ( Mauritania )

13. Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Yusuf Al-Judai, ( UK )

14. Sheikh Abdul Majeed Al-Najjar

15. Sheikh Abdullah ibn Sulayman Al-Manee¢ ( Saudi Arabia )

16. Sheikh Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghudda ( Saudi Arabia )

17. Sheikh Dr. Ajeel Al-Nashmi ( Kuwait )

18. Sheikh Al-Arabi Al-Bichri ( France )

19. Sheikh Dr. Issam Al-Bashir ( Sudan )

20. Sheikh Ali Qaradaghi ( Qatar )

21. Sheikh Dr. Suhaib Hasan Ahmed ( UK )

22. Sheikh Tahir Mahdi (France)

23. Sheikh Mahboub-ul-Rahman ( Norway )

24. Sheikh Muhammed Taqi Othmani ( Pakistan )

25. Sheikh Muhammed Siddique ( Germany )

26. Sheikh Muhammed Ali Saleh Al-Mansour (UAE)

27. Sheikh Dr. Muhammed Al-Hawari ( Germany )

28. Sheikh Mahumoud Mujahed (Belguim)

29. Sheikh Dr. Mustafa Ciric ( Bosnia )

30. Sheikh Nihad Abdul Quddous Ciftci ( Germany )

31. Sheikh Dr. Naser Ibn Abdullah Al-Mayman ( Saudi Arabia )

32. Sheikh Yusuf Ibram ( Switzerland )



The above scholars were asked the following question:



Q) The ingredients of some foods contain items which are denoted by
the letter "E" and a string of numbers. We were told that this
denotes items manufactured from Lard or Pork bone and marrow. If
this is true, what is the Shari'a ruling on such foods?



Their response:



A) The items which carry the letter "E" and a string of numbers are
additives. Additives are more than 350 compounds, and could be
either preservatives, colouring, flavourings, sweeteners, etc.
These are divided into four groups according to their origin:



First: compounds of artificial chemical origin.

Second: compounds of vegetal origin

Third: compounds of animal origin

Fourth: compounds dissolved in Alcohol



The ruling on all these compounds is that they do not affect the
status of these foods being Halal, due to the following:



The first and second groups are Halal because they originate from a
permissible origin and no harm comes from using these items.



The third group is also Halal, because the animal origin does not
remain the same during the process of manufacturing. In fact it is
transformed radically from its original form to a new clean and
pure form through a process called "chemical transformation". This
transformation also affects the legal ruling on such ingredients.
Therefore, if the original form was unclean or Haram, the chemical
transformation changed it to another ingredient which requires a
new ruling. For instance, if alcohol changed and was transformed to
vinegar, then it does not remain Haram, but carries a new ruling
according to the nature of the new product, which is
Halal.



As for the fourth group, these items are usually colourings and are
normally used in extremely small quantities which dissolve in the
final product form, which deems it an excused matter.



Therefore, any foods or drinks that contain any of these
ingredients remains Halal and permissible for the Muslim's
consumption. We must also remember that our religion is a religion
of ease and that we have been forbidden from making matters
inconvenient and hard. Moreover, searching and investigating into
such matters is not what Allah (swt) or His Messenger (ppbuh)
ordered us to do.

Khubaib's response is good but you need to consider that becuase this is a touchy subject, it is considered masbuh, hence muslims should refrain from it.

"Halal is clear and Haram is clear; in between these two are certain things that are suspected. Many people may not know whether those items are Halal or Haram. Whosoever leaves them, he is innocent towards his religion and his conscience. He is, therefore, safe. Anyone who gets involved in any of these suspected items, he may fall into the unlawful and the prohibited. This case is similar to the one who wished to raise his animals too close to a restricted area, so that the animals may step into that area. Indeed for every landlord there is a restricted area. Indeed the restriction of Allah are the Haram." (Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)

Also Masterfoods has issued a statement saying they will not add any animal ingredients to their products.

While Mars UK has backflipped over the use of animal extracts in some of its chocolate confectionery - including Mars and Snickers bars - ingredients used in its other products, such as Twix, Bounty, Celebrations, Topic and Milky Way, will not be changed, meaning they will continue to be unsuitable for muslims.

SO BEWARE.

We shouldn't be eating rubbish like this anyway. With obesity and heart disease at chronic levels, this is a good opportunity to give up this junk food and have a healthier diet. I'm also quite happy not to support a multinational corporation that does not support Fair Trade for cocoa farmers and workers in the developing world. Human Rights organisations equate most cocoa production with modern-day slavery. Give up the junk - Buy Fair Trade.