Methodology — How Halal Food AI Classifies a Product

The short version

Every scan in Halal Food AI returns one of three verdicts: halal, suspect (mashbooh), or not halal. A verdict is only marked halal when every ingredient passes every check we run. If any one ingredient comes back as suspect or not halal, the whole product inherits that status and we tell you exactly which ingredient drove the decision.

The four signals we combine

1. Open Food Facts lookup. When a barcode is scanned, we look up the product in Open Food Facts, a crowdsourced database with millions of products contributed by a global community. We pull ingredients, brand, country, and certification metadata.
2. OCR + Google Gemini analysis. For photo and ingredient-text scans we use Google Gemini to extract a normalized ingredient list. Gemini reads in 25+ languages and handles damaged or partial labels better than traditional OCR.
3. E-code rule engine. Our internal database maps each E-code (E100–E1999) to a halal status with a stated reason. Codes with multiple possible sources (E471, E322, E422, E570) default to suspect unless a manufacturer-specific override exists. See the full E-code reference.
4. Ingredient classifier. Beyond E-codes, the classifier checks ingredients by name (gelatin, L-cysteine, carmine, rennet, mono- and diglycerides, …) against curated rules. Vague terms (natural flavors, enzymes, processing aid) are flagged as suspect rather than guessed.

How verdicts combine

Where we’re stricter than other apps

• "Natural flavors" is suspect, not halal. Many apps default unspecified natural flavors to halal; we don’t. The label legally allows seafood, meat, or beaver gland extracts, so we treat it as mashbooh until the manufacturer discloses the source.
• Mono- and diglycerides default to suspect. Without "from vegetable origin" labelling, we won’t mark E471 as halal even though plant-derived versions dominate North-American supply.
• Carmine is haram, not just discouraged. We follow the majority opinion that insect-derived ingredients are not halal.

Where we’re more permissive

• Vanilla extract trace alcohol. Following the mainstream contemporary view (and Mufti Taqi Usmani’s position), trace alcohol from vanilla extract baked into finished goods is treated as halal in our default rules. Strict shoppers can avoid it.
• Microbial / vegetable rennet cheese. Treated as halal without further verification — this is the unanimous scholarly position.

Update cadence

• Open Food Facts updates in real time as the community contributes — we always read the live API.
• E-code rules are reviewed on a rolling quarterly basis.
• Ingredient classifier prompts and rules are reviewed monthly. Edge cases reported through in-app feedback are typically resolved within 7–14 days.
• This methodology page is reviewed every six months and re-stamped with the new review date.

Limitations — please always verify the label

AI is fast and consistent, but a damaged, foreign-language, or partial label can mislead any system, including ours. We deliberately fail to suspect rather than guess in those cases — but for products that carry weight in your dietary decisions (meat, processed foods feeding children, medication), please always verify the physical label and, where possible, contact the manufacturer.

We don’t replace halal certification bodies like HMC, JAKIM, MUI, or IFANCA. For products that carry one of those marks, follow the certification.