Are Lays Chips Halal or Haraam?

Lays is a chips/snacks producing brand of Fritolay Company. This company is the part of Pepsi Cola International Company. They sell their chips worldwide including Pakistan. Sometime ago, it was propagated that Lays chips are Haraam because an element named E 631 is being used which is extracted from the fat of pig. Pig is haraam for Muslims so all the elements taken from pig are also haraam. But later on Junaid Jamshaid appeared in a TV commercial and said that he has investigated that Lays are manufactured locally from pure vegetable oil and these are 100% Halal.

In the edition of Daily “Ummat” Karachi 12-06-2009, Mufti Rafi Usmani, Maulana Ehtram ul Haq Thanvi, Maulana Mujeeb ur Rehman Inqelabi, Maulana Abdur Rehman Salfi condemns the act of Junaid Jamshaid and said that because he is not a Mufti so he can not give any Fatwa about Halaal or Haraam.

If you search Lays in Wikipedia, you will also find that according to Wikipedia “Some Frito-Lay brand seasoned products, including some flavors of Lay's, contain pork enzymes in addition to herbs, cheese and other seasonings. Frito-Lay's web site states that they use enzymes from pigs (porcine enzymes) in some of their seasoned snack chip products to develop 'unique flavors'. The presence of pig-derived ingredients makes them haraam for Muslims to eat.”

As we are living in an Islamic Republic so it is the responsibility of our government to provide its nationals pure and Halal foods. And it is not the responsibility of general public to make research and decide that whether something is halal or haraam.

I suggests to the Government of Pakistan to make an independent Authority under the federal government which is responsible to resolve the issues like these. This Authority should be formed to keep in mind the example of SANHA (South African National Halaal Authority) in mind. This authority will consists upon Muslim Scholars and Scientists. and they will make research about all the local and international products and will issue the licence to the concerned company if the product is found Halaal.

It is stated for the awareness of general public that SANHA has issued Halal certificate to Lays, here I am giving a copy of this certificate.

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