How we decide
Last reviewed: 18 September 2026
This page explains how HelalScan reaches an answer, what evidence sits behind each one, and where the method fails. It is not a fatwa and not a halal certificate.
The five answers
Verified Halal — a manufacturer statement or certification covers this exact product. Halal, no issue found — nothing questionable in the declared ingredients, but nobody has confirmed the sources. Doubtful — an ingredient whose source decides the answer, and the label does not say which. Unable to verify — we cannot read the declaration well enough to judge. Not halal — a clearly impermissible ingredient.
"Unable to verify" is a real answer here, not a failure state. A scanner that always produces a confident verdict is guessing on the products that matter most.
The evidence hierarchy
Where two sources disagree, the higher one wins, and the most recent statement beats an older one from the same source.
- A written manufacturer statement about the specific product. Dated, from a named department, obtained by writing to the company.
- A halal certification covering that product in that market.
- The declared ingredient list, read in the product's own language.
- A consumer report that a manufacturer answered them — shown as such, never as our own confirmation.
- Inference from the ingredient category. Enough to flag something as doubtful. Never enough to call something halal.
Inference can move an answer toward caution. It cannot move one toward clean. That asymmetry is deliberate: the cost of a wrong "doubtful" is an inconvenience, the cost of a wrong "halal" is not.
Where this method fails
- Recipes change. A statement from 2023 describes the recipe of 2023. Statements carry their date for that reason.
- A statement covers what was asked. "No pork gelatine in product X" does not answer a question about alcohol in product X.
- Barcodes and products are not always the same thing. A manufacturer answers about a product; a shelf holds many pack sizes. Where we cannot tie a statement to a specific barcode with confidence, we show who said it but not their words.
- We cannot see the factory. Processing aids, cross-contamination and slaughter method are outside what a declaration shows.
- Scholars differ. On carriers, wine-derived tartrates, insect-derived colours and more, there is no single ruling. Those pages present the positions and their sources rather than picking for you.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, it should be fixed rather than defended. Manufacturers: if a statement attributed to your company is out of date or was misread, write to us and we will correct or remove it, and record that we did. Anyone else: the same address works. Corrections that change an answer are applied to the app and the site together.