Title: Are the Cola Drinks Halaal ? Question: I was once informed by my teacher in school that a scholar in Egypt has done some research on certain popular products which include some haram contents. Some of them were detol (antiseptic), lux (soap), and all cola drinks like Pepsi and Coca Cola. He also told me some detail. According to him, the chief constituent of cola drinks is "pepsin" which has two main methods of manufacture. One is from plants and second is from animals which possibly (or must) include pork. First method is very costly so the second method is regularly used to supply cheap bottles. So I am very doubtful since then and often create weird situations. Please clarify whether cola drinks are halaal or haraam . Ubaid Khalid New Zealand Answer: As for the use of Dettol and Lux, their usage cannot be termed as Haraam , as neither of these items belong to the category of edible. While as far as the use of the Cola drinks are concerned, there does not seem to be adequate evidence to suggest that these drinks contain any Haraam ingredients [1] . Unless it is clearly established that an edible item contains any of the items, which is expressly prohibited by the Shari`ah , that edible item cannot be considered as Haraam . Regards, Moiz Amjad September 16, 2001 [1] The following question and answer appears on the website - http://www.ivu.org/faq/ingredients.html - of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU): Question : Recently, I learned that pepsin is a chemical which conains pig blood and is used in Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola. Is that true? Answered : No. they originally did but don't now. Pepsi was named after pepsin. Although this is a common myth it is not true. Neither Pepsi nor Coca Cola contain pepsin.