Skip to content
Additives · 5 min

Animal-derived additives: the E numbers to know

An E number names a function and a substance, not an origin. The same E471 can come from a vegetable oil or an animal fat. Here are the additives Tayib's encyclopedia flags, and how it reads them.

Tayib

Emulsifiers made from fats

These are the most widespread: they are made from fatty acids, plant or animal, and labels rarely say which.

Additives from bones, feathers or insects

What the app's guide says

Additives and emulsifiers

The same E number can refer to a plant, animal or synthetic product: the code alone does not indicate origin. This is why many additives are classified as ‘doubtful’ when the label gives no further information.

A plant origin explicitly attached to the additive may resolve the question of its origin. Tayib also uses certain vegetarian or vegan declarations in the product record for ingredients to which they are relevant. These are declared details: they prove neither the absence of alcohol nor compliance with all religious conditions, and do not permit an explicitly forbidden ingredient.

Carmine

Carmine (E120) is a red colouring extracted from cochineal, an insect. The Maliki permission regarding insects includes conditions whose application to the industrial production of carmine must be checked. Some contemporary institutions permit carmine under their conditions, while others reject it; Tayib presents these opinions separately. Rules concerning insects also include exceptions, notably locusts.

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ ٱلَّذِى يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَٱلْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَـٰٓئِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَـٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلنُّورَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُۥٓ ۙ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ

“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.”
— Qur’an 7:157
Read the entry

Is E471 halal?

Additive · emulsifier

Open

One product, one verdict. No list of codes to memorise.

Download Tayib. Scan the first product in your cupboard. The rest explains itself.

Download on theApp Store