Food dyes extracted from cochineal
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Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and his family and companions. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency, the Deputy Executive President for Food Affairs, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (831) and date 4/6/1431 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is: I would like to point out that the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, based on the tasks assigned to it by the wise leadership, is concerned with everything related to food and drug safety, the safety and lawfulness of their ingredients and additives, and verifying the source of these ingredients, in order to ensure the safety and health of the consumer. Since the Authority needs to know the religious perspective regarding the color (carmine), which is one of the colors added to food, and which is extracted
from the female insect (DACTYLOPIUS COCCUS COSTA) that grows on a type of cactus plant, by drying the insects, either using sunlight or steam, or using thermal ovens, where each method yields different shades of color, followed by a process of grinding and immersion in an alkaline solution to separate the solid parts from the insect's body, where those parts settle and are separated through a filtration process (a number of reliable scientific references confirming the source of this color are attached). It is known that this is the only method for producing this color, and it cannot be produced by an industrial method. Therefore, we hope that your esteemed Committee will kindly review this and inform us of the lawfulness of using this color in food intended for human consumption, so that we can complete the update of the specifications for colors added to foods based on this. Thank you for your good cooperation, and may Allah make it a good deed in your scales.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it answered: Based on the method of extracting the color from this insect mentioned in the question, and that after melting it is ground and filtered to remove the solid parts, and because the color is a residue and not the body of the insect whose consumption is disliked, it is permissible to benefit from this color in foods or drinks, provided it is not harmful. And what indicates
that the residue of a disliked thing, other than its body, is permissible even if its body is forbidden; is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 5782 narrated by al-Bukhari, The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order the milk to be poured out when a fly fell into it, nor did he order it to be dipped entirely, but rather he ordered (peace and blessings be upon him) to throw out the fly and benefit from what it fell into, which indicates the purity of the insect, and that its residue does not affect the prohibition of what it fell into if harm is absent. All of this indicates that benefiting from the color of the aforementioned insect in foods or drinks is permissible.
from the female insect (DACTYLOPIUS COCCUS COSTA) that grows on a type of cactus plant, by drying the insects, either using sunlight or steam, or using thermal ovens, where each method yields different shades of color, followed by a process of grinding and immersion in an alkaline solution to separate the solid parts from the insect's body, where those parts settle and are separated through a filtration process (a number of reliable scientific references confirming the source of this color are attached). It is known that this is the only method for producing this color, and it cannot be produced by an industrial method. Therefore, we hope that your esteemed Committee will kindly review this and inform us of the lawfulness of using this color in food intended for human consumption, so that we can complete the update of the specifications for colors added to foods based on this. Thank you for your good cooperation, and may Allah make it a good deed in your scales.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it answered: Based on the method of extracting the color from this insect mentioned in the question, and that after melting it is ground and filtered to remove the solid parts, and because the color is a residue and not the body of the insect whose consumption is disliked, it is permissible to benefit from this color in foods or drinks, provided it is not harmful. And what indicates
that the residue of a disliked thing, other than its body, is permissible even if its body is forbidden; is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it (into the vessel) and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing
إذا وقع الذباب في إناء أحدكم فليغمسه كله، ثم ليطرحه فإن في أحد جناحيه داء وفي الآخر شفاء
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.