Let's talk about food ingredients

In The Name Of Allah...

Bismillahi walhamdulillah.
I've gone through tough days recently. And now i have to go another long journey to continue my desire to put Islamic thinking in everyone's mind. Ok, now what?

Alhamdulillah, Allah always give the chance to do good deeds everywhere. I wanna ask something. Have you ever check a food ingredients at the labelling before you consume the product? Well, i think you should. Everybody is talking about 'halal' food nowadays. There are some food that has the label 'HALAL' at the packaging but if you check the ingredients carefully, sometimes you will find doubtful ingredients written down, such as E471. The status of E471 is 'doubtful' according to the halal haram book, my friend borrowed from the library. I forgot the full title of the book. Nevermind, let's see what it is actually.

E471 is a type of emulsifier where it mixes immicible ingredients together, like water and oil.

I found this one...(link)

E471 Mono- and diglycerides

Origin:
Synthetic fats, produced from glycerol and natural fatty acids, mainly from plant origin, but also fats of animal origin may be used. The product generally is a mixture of different products, with a composition similar to partially digested natural fat.

Function & characteristics:
Emulsifiers and stabilisers.

Products:
M any different products

Acceptable Daily Intake:
None determined.

Side effects:

None known. The body metabolises the products as any other fat. The individual components are also produced normally in the body when digesting normal fat.

Dietary restrictions:
Although mainly vegetable oils are used, the use of animal fat (incl. pork) can not be excluded. Several groups, such as vegans, Muslims and Jews thus avoid these products. Only the producer can give detailed information on the origin of the fatty acids. Chemically the fatty acids from vegetable or animal origin are identical.

And sometimes, the manufacturers label E471 as soy lecithin. Well, for this one i think no need to think twice to eat if there is 'HALAL' label from jakim, from a hadith of The Prophet Muhammad PBUH, he said (Malay version)


: يا رسول الله إن قوماً يأتوننا باللحم، ولا ندري أذكروا اسم الله عليه أم لا، فقال: " سموا الله عليه وكلوا "

Maksudnya : Ya Rasulullah , telah datang suatu kaum memberikan kami daging , dan kami tidak tahu adakah ianya (daging) dibacakan nama Allah atau tidak ? , maka bersabda Rasulullah saw : Sebutlah nama Allah dan makanlah"

As-Syaikh Dr Yusof al-Qaradhawi said in his fatwa :

"Sebahagian ulama mengguna pakai kaedah tersebut dalam meletakkan hukum terhadap makanan yang diberikan oleh ahli kitab kepada muslim , dengan hanya membaca / menyebut nama Allah ketika hendak makan tanpa perlu menyelidiki tentang status makanan tersebut"

Also like Dar Ifta Mesir said:

"Sesungguhnya , tidak disyaratkan seseorang muslim itu bertanyakan tentang apa yang tidak diketahuinya , bagaimanakah cara sembelihannya , adakah menepati syarat sembelihan , adakah semasa sembelih , disebut nama Allah atau tidak dan sebagainya....Maka , daging tersebut tetap halal dimakan.

What is soy lecithin? Check this out! (Link)

Lecithin was first isolated as an orange-colored substance in egg yolk. An important characteristic of this material was that it contained phosphorus, organically bound to a lipid-type structure. Industrial production of lecithin began when the Bollman extraction process enabled large quantities to be obtained from soybeans instead of eggs.

It took scientists a number of years to discover that the isolated chemicals weren’t uniformly structured, but were instead a group of chemically similar, but clearly differentiated, components that are now classified as phospholipids or phosphatides. Scientists also found that this class of chemicals is present in all organic tissue. All of these components can basically be called lecithin, but they may deliver entirely different functionalities in their individual applications.

The active components that all lecithins have in common are phospholipids. These consist of hydrophobic long-chain fatty acids counterbalanced with polar, hydrophilic phosphates. A concentration of phospholipids at the oil-water interface lowers the surface tension and makes emulsification possible. Once this occurs, phospholipids at the surface of the oil or water droplets form barriers to prevent the droplets from coalescing.

Industry employment

Lecithins are nature’s principal emulsifying agents. They greatly speed up dispersion of fatty and aqueous components in many types of food applications, including bread, biscuits, sweet pastries, convenience foods, ice cream, chocolate and margarine.

Confectionery. The most widely known and firmly established application for lecithin is in the making of confections, and chewing- and bubble-gum products. This natural ingredient improves the quality and eating properties of confectionery items and is used for both functional and process-technology purposes. Lecithin has a positive effect on form stability, allowing the addition of increased amounts of glucose syrup for shelf-life extension in chewing and bubble gum. It aids the binding of water in the chewing-gum mass, prolongs flavor release, extends shelf life, improves chewability, releases flavor and produces a fresher gum with enhanced smoothness.

In chocolate manufacture, such as chocolate bars and coatings, it reduces the amount of cocoa butter required, reduces viscosity and yield value of chocolate, improves flow properties, improves shelf life by reducing fat-bloom formation, and prevents sugar recrystallization.

Margarines. Lecithin also is commonly used as an emulsifier in the manufacture of frying, bakery, and diet margarine and spreads. Due to the bipolar structure of lecithin molecules, it helps reduce the surface tension between the oil and water phases. As a result, a homogeneous and fine distribution of droplet size can be obtained in spreads.

Bakery. In bakery products, emulsifiers can help reduce the rate of starch retrogradation—the process under which the starch molecules revert back to their original state as rigid crystalline granules—making the product stale. Emulsifiers also can work with lipoproteins to stabilize dough by forming gluten networks. In biscuits, crackers, pies and cakes, a 1% to 3% concentration of lecithin promotes fat distribution and shortening action, facilitates mixing, and acts as an “internal” release agent, which prevents the mixture from sticking to the pan, a major benefit for shape control.

I think that's all for now. InsyaAllah I'll find more about food next time. If there's anything wrong, do give me a reply. Read more, so that you will know lot of things...

With regards in the sake of Allah...

Wassalam