Selman NECEFOĞLU
The production processes of the food industry, shaped under modernization and free market conditions, necessitate a multidimensional analysis of halal food standards and jurisprudential (fiqh) criteria. In the light of technical and medical data within Gıda Raporu (Food Report), when the formulation components, toxicological structures, and jurisprudential principles of products in the “energy drink” category are examined, it is observed that there are both technical and Shariah obstacles in front of giving a halal certificate to these products.
1. Origin and Source Uncertainty of Critical Additive Substances
The raw material origins of high-ratio functional components in the biochemical formulation of energy drinks disrupt halal traceability criteria.
- Taurine, Carnitine, and Creatine Recipe: These components are amino acid derivatives naturally found in the organism. However, in industrial-scale production, these substances can be synthesized synthetically in the laboratory, as well as isolated from animal tissues (from animals whose slaughtering method does not comply with Islamic criteria or from forbidden sources such as pork). The uncertainty of origin in the global raw material supply chain of these substances, which are used in high ratios (for example, 1200 mg of taurine) in a single 340 ml can, directly violates the principle of “avoiding doubtful things” (shubuhāt) in food safety and halal certification principles. Additive substances of animal origin whose origin cannot be registered make the halal certification of the final product jurisprudentially impossible. (Source)
2. Biochemical Toxicity and the Principle of “No Harm” (Lā Darara wa Lā Dirāra)
One of the fundamental aims of Islamic jurisprudence and halal certification is the principle of the “Protection of the Soul and Health.” It is not enough for a food item to merely not contain an obvious impure element; at the same time, it must not harm humans biologically, physiologically, or psychologically, meaning it must possess the quality of “Tayyib.”
- Cardiovascular and Neurological Risks: Clinical research has proven that the combination of high levels of synthetic caffeine, guarana (high-density herbal caffeine), inositol, and glucuronolactone raises blood pressure to abnormal levels, negatively affects heart functions and rhythm, and leads to anxiety, risk of tolerance (increase in addiction threshold), and withdrawal syndromes. This combination, which does not provide real cellular energy but artificially stimulates the central nervous system to mislead the body, contains acute risks that wear out human physiology.
- Harm to the Target Audience and Legal Warnings: Due to legal obligations, clear warnings such as “should not be consumed by diabetics, patients with high blood pressure, those with metabolic disorders, those experiencing kidney failure, pregnant women, and children under the age of 18” are included on these drinks. In addition, the negative effects of artificial sweetener combinations in the formulation (such as phenylalanine in aspartame, etc.) on neurological development are established by clinical trials. In accordance with the rule of “It is not permissible to consume things that cause harm or lead to harm” in Islamic jurisprudence, it is not possible to register a product group with certified metabolic risks that invites chronic diseases as “Halal and Tayyib.”
Conclusion
Energy drinks contain high jurisprudential risks due to the proven acute and chronic harms of the artificial stimulants in their composition to human physiology (violation of the Tayyib criterion), the neurological risks of synthetic sweeteners, and the source suspicions in the origin of critical amino acid derivatives such as taurine and carnitine that make up the formulation. This product group, the consumption of which involves no jurisprudential, medical, or vital necessity (hajah), but on the contrary threatens human health, does not present a profile suitable for receiving a halal certificate due to the protective and holistic methodological structure of halal food standards.
