The application of E coding and cosmetic labelling in Halal cosmetic screening

Abstract

Recently, Halal lifestyle and Halal accreditation have become a world phenomenon, which have extended their scope to include industries other than food such as cosmetics. The Halal cosmetic industry has brought the impetus growth for a new market segment. Complying with the existing cosmetic regulations as well as the halal cosmetic guideline has become a new challenge to move forward. Malaysia has introduced the Halal cosmetic guideline under MS2200-1: 2008. One of the criteria is to ensure the “Halal” status of the materials and sources used. Through the Halal E Code databases from muslimconsumergroup.com, a preliminary survey had been conducted on 50 cosmetic products from the market to check their Halal status. All the products selected were checked for their ingredients based on the compulsory labelling requirement on the packaging or packaging insert. From the results, it was observed that all the ingredients used fall under the category of “Mushbooh” which means further clarification and investigation is required for the ingredients listed in the product label. The “Mushbooh” status was given to those E-Numbers where the source of raw material was unknown; it could be from a plant source or an animal source. From the result mentioned above, it is quite critical for the regulatory and certification body to come up with a Halal ingredient or Halal Pharmacopeia database in order to certify the halal status. As deduced from the results, the cosmetic ingredients included an abundance of stabilisers, emulsifiers and emollients in their formulation that require a validation to determine their certificate of origin and halal status.