Are Pocky and PRETZ in Japan Halal? Answer from glico.

Snacks that represent glico.

glico (江崎グリコ) is the biggest snack company from Osaka. Their name is known to so many people, especially among the people who are heading for Dotonbori, Osaka, because their famous “glico sign” is there! Their snacks are eaten worldwide, but they also have ready-to-eat meals and supplement, too.

Although they have wide variety of snacks, their most known products are Pocky and PRETZ! Let’s take a look at their ingredients to help you judge if the snacks are Halal or not.

What are the features of their products?

PRETZ (プリッツ) is a savory stick snack. This snack is made from a snack called Pretzel, a hard and savory bread-like food available in Europe or America. Although the shape is different, glico has made their product using the concept of Pretzel. The very first flavor they had was Roast, which has sweet and buttery flavor. Now there are so many flavors such as Salad, Tomato and Butter Soysauce.

After the successful sales of PRETZ in 1962, they made Pocky, a PRETZ with chocolate coating. Unlike PRETZ, it is generally sweet flavor, such as fruits, Matcha green tea or nuts. If you go to a touristic spot, you may find a local limited edition Pocky that will make you so tempted to buy!

On every 11th November, Japanese people try to buy either or both of the products to celebrate “a day of pocky”, because the shape of the products look like one, a day with four-ones (November 11th).

So, are PRETZ and Pocky Halal in Japan?

In our observation, PRETZ is most probably haram, while Pocky can be Muslim-friendly. This is the reason why.

PRETZ

Because PRETZ has a savory flavor, we have found so many animal-derived ingredients such as bouillon or flavor from chicken. Here is the ingredients Salad flavor, the most basic one.

As you can see, there are so many animal-derived ingredients, as well as alcoholic seasoning in their product. The great thing is that they mention alcohol is completely evaporated, just under the ingredients label. However, it also says that the product is manufactured along with other products. From this fact, we have to assume that all of the PRETZ products are produced in the same machinery, which is causing contamination.

https://www.glico.com/jp/

Pocky

Pocky in Japan can be Muslim-friendly, an item that has no restricted ingredients. Take a look at the ingredients in their Chocolate flavor first.

As it has Shortening and Emulsifier whose sources are not mentioned, we have got in touch with glico. Their answer was that they are using Plant-based ingredients.

However, they do not want to say that the products are completely safe for Muslims. This is because of alcohol used. They use flavoring, and this can contain a very tiny portion of alcohol. According to some religious organizations, if the percentage of alcohol is less than 0.5%, it is considered Halal. However, glico said that they do not know the percentage of such residual alcohol.

https://www.glico.com/jp/

Consume at your own risk.

As we always say, it is totally up to you to decide which products are Halal and which are not for you. If you do not want to take a risk, buying one from other countries like Malaysia or Indonesia would be the better option. They are Halal-certified, and you do not have to worry about their ingredients or contamination at all.

Even though you choose to have a Japanese one, we would like to ask you to carefully check on the labels, because there are just too many flavors, and we can never say they are all made from the same Halal ingredients. We hope this article helps!