ON Whey

By the Grace and Will of Allah SWT, I've just started my 'Get back Fit' regime and was introduced to try ON Whey Protein drink. Took the opportunity to exercise my Muslim consumer rights - researched about the ingredients of the product and emailed the company to enquire about. Here's the brief reply:

Thank you for choosing Optimum Nutrition. While the product is not certified Halal at this time, it does not contain any animal products or by products except for the whey itself which is derived from dairy (cow’s milk).

Best of health!

Rebecca Johnsen

Consumer Affairs Rep

Optimum Nutrition/American Body Building

1-800-705-5226

I also checked in with the Muslim Consumer Group and below is their reply... 

Optimum Whey is not Halal because it is not kosher certified. From our Ingredients section:

Whey and its Halal Status

Muslims think that whey is milk based ingredient, it has to be Halal but answer is no.

There are two kinds of whey, one is sweet or rennet whey and other is acid whey - Acid whey is obtained during the making of acid type of cheese such as cottage cheese. Sweet or rennet whey is used more in food products then acid whey. Sweet whey or rennet whey is a by-product of rennet cheese making such as cheddar cheese or Mozzarella cheese.

Whey is a portion of milk remaining after coagulation and removal of curd. Whey is Halal only if the Halal starter culture bacteria, Halal medium on which starter culture bacteria are grown (Starter culture bacteria are Halal if they obtained from milk source not meat source and media on which these starter culture bacteria grown has to be made from Halal ingredients such milk). These requirements can only obtained if the cheese and whey are Halal or Kosher certified (which meet the Islamic dietary requirements).

A Halal or Kosher symbol (which meet the Islamic dietary requirements) appears on a food package containing whey indicates that it is manufactured under Halal or Kosher supervision. Acid Whey which is obtained from cottage has the same Halal requirements as cheddar or Mozzarella cheese except rennet is not used but starter cultures are added and they have to be from milk source not meat source. Starter culture requirement for acid whey is same cheddar or Mozzarella cheese.

To conclude, it is safe to buy products with kosher label if no certified halal label is displayed on the product. We cannot underscore the importance of maintaing one's degree of purity of the self when in servitude towards the Creator and Sustainer as one's food intake will remain in the blood stream for at least 40 days. Wa-Allahu a'lam.