HalalBasis: Halal Food Scanner

Three barcode scans free, then a subscription. Reading labels by photo and the offline E number handbook are free forever, with no account to create.

Most halal apps answer with a green tick or a red cross. This one doesn't. It shows you the ingredients, tells you where each E number comes from, and leaves the ruling to you.

Scan a barcode and you get the ingredient list as printed on the pack, every E number named with what it's made from: plant, mineral, synthetic, insect, animal. Every code it flags carries a note on why people ask, all 58 of them. For 14, what HFA, HCC and JAKIM each ruled. When the barcode isn't in the database, photograph the ingredient list instead and your phone reads it.

WHAT'S IN IT • Barcode lookup against Open Food Facts, an open database of over 4.6 million products • Photo reading of ingredient lists, for the products no database has • An E number handbook, 247 entries, works with no signal • Every entry names the source: plant, mineral, synthetic, insect, animal. All 58 it flags explain why people ask, and 14 carry rulings from HFA, HCC and JAKIM • Halal certification marks printed on the pack, where the database has them • 27 languages, switchable inside the app

ABOUT THE MISSING VERDICT Take E471, the most common additive on a supermarket shelf that gives Muslims pause. It's made by splitting a fat and re-esterifying it. Plant oil and animal fat both come out as E471, and manufacturers switch between them on price. Every certifier in this app calls it mushbooh, which is a polite way of saying nobody can tell from the label.

An app that shows you a green tick has picked a side on your behalf and not told you. I'd rather show you the ingredient, where it comes from, and who rules what. The ruling is yours, or your imam's.

PRICE Three barcode scans free. After that, scanning needs a subscription. Reading labels by photo and the E number handbook are free forever, and there is nothing to sign up for.

Ingredient data comes from Open Food Facts under the Open Database License. This is an ingredient information tool, not a religious ruling.

Terms of use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy https://halalbasis.wuyuxai.com/privacy