The Halal Index

So, while all the attention on what's halal and what's not has been on the food we consume as well as cosmetics, not much has been said or revealed about pharmaceuticals.

And so, this morning I interviewed Mr. Halim Ihsan, the editor of this very important and ground-breaking book, The Halal Index: Pig Based Pharmaceuticals.

The book was produced after a couple of years of extensive research on the subject and the results are nothing less than shocking. Well, at least shocking for a layman like me.

Basically, every pharmaceutical product contains active and inactive compounds, and according to this book, quite a number of the compounds are made of pig parts. Which means, there are thousands of pharmaceutical products out there with pig-based compounds.

The book does mention the type of pharmaceuticals with such compounds and also gives alternatives (where they exist) to the consumers. However, the writers of the book stopped short of labelling such products as Haram, as only the relevant religious authorities are allowed to do so.

And if you're wondering why pigs are used for pharmaceuticals, well, it's because the animal is easy to breed and as such, there's an endless supply of it.

If you're interested in the book, please click HERE