Note: We have further investigated about the Halalness of the Morinaga products. I am glad to let you know that at least one product of the company, called Jumbo Monaka Ice is halal and is being used by many Muslims living in Japan.
Yesterday, while I was working on a web design project, my six-year-old daughter brought me a very delicious ice cream bar made by Morinaga, a famous Japanese food products company. My wife told me that she had carefully checked the ingredients of the ice cream in question and it seemingly, did not have any haram items included. However, in general, we were not satisfied.
This morning, I contacted Morinaga company about the ingredients of the ice cream bar. To our dismay, the receptionist told me that NONE of Morinaga products were halal. She further told that recently, many Muslim consumers had asked the same question and they had confirmed it thoroughly that none of their product was suitable for Muslims to eat.
The company I have talked about mainly manufactures the following items.
- Cookies
- Cocoa
- Ice cream
- Hot cakes
- Yougurt
- Baby Milk
- Chirumiru milk is halal
- Hagukumi milk is haram
- Ii Aka chan milk is also haram
The above list shows that Morinaga baby milk is mostly haram from Islamic perspective. However, one may need to dig deeper to find out which other types of Morinaga milk is haram or halal.
Upon further investigation, one of the company representative informed me that they were planning to put a special (halal) mark on their products for the convenience of Muslim consumers in Japan in the near future.
Another side of the story is that Morinaga is not just a domestic food company but it has also been marketing its products in many other countries as well. Muslims living in other countries have to verify the halalness of the food products manufactured by this company.
With all the above information in the hindsight, I am still not satisfied with the information provided by the company. I would personally like to investigate further about their other products as well as the company manufactures many other products which are loved by young kids as well as adults.
By looking at the Japanese Muslims statistics and the number of inquiries Japanese food makers have got from Muslim consumers living in Japan, it seems they are slowly becoming a sizable market segment for Japanese food manufacturers.
Japanese Muslims seeking more acknowledgement in the Japanese marketplace argue that especially, food businesses in the country have more to gain than to lose by catering to the dietary needs of the Muslim community living in Japan.
What is your take on this issue? Please feel free to comment below about what has been your experience with Morinaga`s products.
Baraka allahoe fiek!
hello, I am a muslim in Tokyo. I was thinking of buying Chirumiru milk of Moringa for my daughter. But you said ALL Moringa products are Haram. And at the same time in the middle of your post you mentioned “Chirumiru milk is halal” So, which should I take actually. By the way, thank you for your valuable post.
Assalamu alaikum,
Thank you for pointing out this issue. We really apologize for inconvenience this post may have caused to anyone. However, we have confirmed it again that Chirumiru Milk for babies is Halal. Please feel free to use it.