Short answer
Only if their gelatin is halal. Most gummy sweets, marshmallows and jelly in Western shops are set with gelatin from pigs or from cattle not slaughtered by zabiha, which is not halal in the Hanafi fatwa position. Gummies made with pectin, agar, starch or halal-certified gelatin are halal.
Gelatin follows its source: pork gelatin is haram, and gelatin from non-zabiha cattle is avoided because Deobandi scholars do not treat its making as a full transformation. Fish gelatin, halal-certified beef gelatin and plant gels are halal.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Some Maliki scholars hold that processing turns gelatin into a new substance and allow it whatever its source.
Explanation
Gelatin gives gummy bears, sour worms, marshmallows, jelly and some yoghurts and desserts their bounce. On a label it may say gelatin, gelatine, beef gelatin, pork gelatin or E441. When it just says gelatin, it is often from pigs.
- Pork gelatin: haram.
- Beef gelatin without halal certification: avoided in the Deobandi position, since the cattle were not slaughtered by zabiha.
- Halal-certified beef or fish gelatin: halal.
- Pectin (from fruit), agar (from seaweed), carrageenan and starch: halal. Vegan gummies use these.
Gummies can also contain carmine (E120) for red colour, and shellac or beeswax for shine. Carmine is not eaten in the Hanafi school (see carmine), shellac has its own answer (shellac), and beeswax is halal. Vitamin gummies may add collagen or fish oil (see collagen).
A kosher symbol does not guarantee halal gelatin. If you ate gummies before you knew, there is no sin. The full reasoning on gelatin is in is gelatin halal, and you can check labels with the halal food checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-An'aam 6:145
قُل لَّآ أَجِدُ فِى مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍۢ يَطْعَمُهُۥٓ إِلَّآ أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًۭا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍۢ فَإِنَّهُۥ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ﴿١٤٥﴾
Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."
Pork and what is made from it are forbidden.
Sahih al-Bukhari 52
Sahih... الحلال بين والحرام بين وبينهما مشبهات ...
"The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters."
Supports avoiding gelatin of doubtful source.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on impurities, on transformation (inqilab al-'ayn). A substance that fully changes takes a new ruling; scholars differ on what counts as a full change.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Taharah, on transformed impurities. The Maliki position on transformation.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.