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Is vanilla or vanilla extract halal?
Praise be to Allah.
Vanilla – which is known botanically as planifolia – is the most expensive plant after saffron, because of its rarity and the difficulty in obtaining it. The word vanilla originally comes from the Spanish word “vainilla”, meaning “little pod”. Its pods resemble those of carob. Some people use it in bread and some use it in perfumes; the most common use of vanilla in the Arab world is in the manufacture of ice cream and sweets.
It says in al-Mawsu‘ah al-‘Arabiyyah al-‘Alamiyyah:
“The vanilla plant produces pods that are collected when they are a greenish yellow, then they are treated.
Vanilla is the name for a number of climbing orchids. Vanilla extract, which is used to give flavour in chocolate, ice cream, pancakes and sweets, is produced from this plant.
The plant produces its fruit in the form of a cylindrical pod, the length of which is between 13 and 15 cm. This fruit is oily and black inside, and contains a number of small black seeds. The pods are collected when they are a yellowish-green colour. After that they are treated or dried; this process shrinks the seeds and makes them rich and brown, producing the vanilla flavour and smell that is well-known.
Vanilla extract is produced by means of a complex and costly process. The seeds are cut into small pieces, then they are steeped in alcohol and water. Food scientists have developed an artificial vanilla flavor because of the high cost of natural vanilla.”
With regard to the ruling on eating vanilla, it is permissible even though it was mixed with alcohol during preparation, for two reasons:
We have mentioned the ruling on alcohol and that it is pure, and we have mentioned the ruling on foods and drinks to which some alcohol has been added, in the answers to question 146710 .
In the answer to question no. 33763 we quoted the following from Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him):
“Do not think that any ratio of alcohol that there may be in a thing makes it haram; rather if the ratio is such that it will have an effect, in the sense that if a person drinks this liquid that is mixed with alcohol he will become intoxicated, then it is haram. But if the ratio is very small and has diminished and left no trace, and it does not have any effect, then it is halal.”
The Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences has researched the topic of haram substances in food and drink ; among the conclusions they reached were the following:
And Allah knows best.