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Are Store-Bought Snacks Halal? What Snack Makers Say on Their Own Websites

Published: September 22, 2026 / Last updated: October 25, 2026

Category: For visitors

What manufacturers say, at a glance

Manufacturers sometimes answer on their own websites whether store-bought snacks are halal. Here is a summary of the answers from the manufacturers covered in this article.

Manufacturer or productWhat the manufacturer publishes
Kameda SeikaIts products do not have halal certification
KoikeyaIt currently has no halal-certified products
CalbeeIts products manufactured in Japan do not have halal certification
Morinaga & Co., HI-CHEW (ハイチュウ)It is not halal-certified. The gelatin is made from pig skin
Meiji, Kinoko no Yama (きのこの山) and Apollo (アポロ)Announced production lines at its Singapore subsidiary and plans to offer versions meeting halal certification requirements (March 2023)
Glico, Pocky (ポッキー), and other productsSays products from its Indonesian company can be checked in MUI’s halal product list

None of these six companies’ published information said that the products on store shelves in Japan had halal certification. The certification or arrangements described by Meiji and Glico concern products made overseas.

Searching for “halal snacks convenience store” (ハラル お菓子 コンビニ) brings up many articles listing product names. Some cover supermarkets or imported-food stores.

As you read them, a similar pattern appears. There are product names, photos, and statements that you can eat them. Yet most do not give evidence explaining why those products are on the list.

Product lists have another weakness: ingredients change. A product update can change the recipe, or the manufacturing plant can change. A list that was accurate when written gradually becomes outdated. Without a publication date, you cannot even tell how old the information is.

This article does not make a list of products you can eat. Instead, the following sections examine what snack makers themselves say on their own websites.

What manufacturers write on their own websites

The manufacturer’s answer: “We do not have certification”

Some snack manufacturers answer questions about halal certification in their own FAQs. We found four in the information examined. We will first look at three. The fourth, Morinaga & Co., is discussed later because its answer concerns a specific product.

Kameda Seika’s frequently asked questions say:

Kameda Seika products do not have halal certification.

Koikeya’s Customer Center gives the same answer:

There are currently no Koikeya products with halal certification.

Calbee words its answer a little differently:

Products manufactured in Japan do not have halal certification.

All three publish these answers as responses to questions.

The limit: “Products manufactured in Japan”

Only Calbee’s answer includes a condition: products manufactured in Japan.

This answer says nothing about products manufactured overseas. Its wording suggests the answer differs depending on whether the product is made in Japan.

Other companies’ announcements help explain why this limit matters.

Overseas certification and products on shelves in Japan

The same brand can be a different product in another country

In a March 2023 press release, Meiji announced that it had built production lines for Kinoko no Yama (きのこの山) and Apollo (アポロ) at its Singapore subsidiary. It states the reason directly:

Until now, these two products have been manufactured in Japan and exported and sold overseas. As a result, differences in overseas food regulations (such as halal certification) have prevented us from exporting and selling them in some countries.

The same announcement also says:

We will also offer Kinoko no Yama and Apollo versions that meet halal certification requirements.

It also explains that Kinoko no Yama is sold as “Chocorooms” and Apollo as “UPROLL,” depending on the destination country.

As of March 2023, versions meeting halal certification requirements were still described as a future offering. What is clear is the background: products made in Japan could not meet the requirements of some countries, so an overseas factory was prepared. Even within the same brand, the situation differs depending on where a product is made.

We also explained that the same product name does not always mean the same contents in How to Spot Pork and Alcohol on Ingredient Lists, and What the Label Alone Can’t Tell You. Across national borders, the differences become even greater.

Pocky’s certification concerns the Indonesian company

The same pattern appears at Glico.

PT Glico Indonesia, Glico’s Indonesian company, has a halal certificate page on its English website. It says Pocky (ポッキー), Pejoy (ペジョイ), and Pretz (プリッツ) can be checked in the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)’s halal product list.

This information concerns products from the Indonesian company. It is not information about Pocky sold in stores in Japan.

As we explained in Is Japanese Halal Certification Recognized in Malaysia and Indonesia? Checking Those Countries’ Official Lists, certification systems differ by country. Getting certified once in one place does not mean that certification is accepted worldwide.

Lists based on overseas versions do not apply to Japanese shelves

Putting these points together shows what those lists are based on.

Some products sold overseas carry halal logos. If someone uses that information alone to write “This snack is halal,” readers may think this also applies to products with the same name in Japanese convenience stores and supermarkets.

But they are made in different factories. Ingredients may also be changed to meet the country’s standards. Certification of the overseas version guarantees nothing about the product on a shelf in Japan. Our article What Is a Halal Logo? How to Read Logos That Differ by Organization, and How to Check That One Is Genuine explains what to look for when you see a halal logo.

A matching product name is not evidence.

No certification does not mean you cannot eat it

Let us make our position clear here.

Not having certification means only that a product has not gone through the certification process. It does not mean that the product contains pork or alcohol.

Some people examine the contents and decide for themselves even without certification. What makes a food acceptable differs from person to person. This website does not decide whether you may eat a specific product.

We do not make that decision, but we can explain where to find information to check.

Examples of manufacturers explaining ingredient origins

HI-CHEW’s gelatin is described as made from pig skin

Morinaga & Co.’s contact pages list two questions and answers about HI-CHEW.

Is HI-CHEW halal certified?

HI-CHEW does not have halal certification. Note: It was sold in Indonesia from around mid-April 2016, but is no longer sold there.

Here, too, the country where it was sold was Indonesia. The English version of the same question describes that product as “halal certified HI-CHEW.”

The other question concerns an ingredient:

What is the gelatin used in HI-CHEW made from?

The gelatin used in HI-CHEW is made from pig skin.

It states that the gelatin is made from pig skin. The manufacturer publishes this itself.

The same answers are available in English and Chinese

These two questions are also available in other languages.

What is the gelatin used in HI-CHEW made from?

The gelatin’s raw material is pork skin.

What is the gelatin used in HI-CHEW made from? (HI-CHEW 中使用的明胶的原料是由什么制成的？)

The gelatin in HI-CHEW is made from pig skin. (HI-CHEW的明胶原料是猪皮。)

Having an answer in Japanese is useful enough, but foreign-language versions give you more ways to use it. When giving snacks as a souvenir, you can share a page the recipient can read directly.

Showing the manufacturer’s own words can be quicker than adding an explanation in Japanese. It is worth checking whether the manufacturer’s website has a language switch.

The package does not reveal the origin of gelatin

We could establish the facts about HI-CHEW because the manufacturer had published an answer.

The ingredient list alone does not tell you whether gelatin comes from pigs, cattle, or fish. We explain this in How to Spot Pork and Alcohol on Ingredient Lists, and What the Label Alone Can’t Tell You.

If the label does not answer your question, the next step is to ask the manufacturer or look for its published questions and answers.

Emulsifier origins differ by product

Gelatin is not the only ingredient whose origin may be unclear. The same is true of emulsifiers (乳化剤).

Calbee’s frequently asked questions explain emulsifiers:

Because the Japanese word for emulsifier (乳化剤) includes the character for milk (乳), people sometimes mistakenly think it uses milk-derived ingredients.

It continues:

Emulsifiers come from various raw materials. The emulsifiers (and their raw materials) used also differ by product, so please check each time.

“Each time,” it says. Even products from the same company differ.

This sentence directly explains why product-name lists are hard to make reliable. A third party cannot summarize by brand what the manufacturer can answer only by individual product.

Contact details for questions are usually public

Asking the manufacturer directly is more accessible than you might think.

Calbee’s frequently asked questions give its phone number and opening hours, an email form, and even chat contact details and hours. Morinaga & Co. also publishes a contact form and phone number.

When asking, give the product name and focus on one thing you want to know. This makes an answer more likely. Based on the companies’ responses above, “Is this product halal?” may be treated as a question about certification and end with “We do not have certification.” Asking “Please tell me the source material of the emulsifier in this product” (この商品の乳化剤の由来原料を教えてください) gets an answer about ingredients.

Other places to check

Some stores import and sell certified products

Apart from Japanese snack manufacturers, some stores import and stock certified products.

Kaldi Coffee Farm’s online store has a “Halal” (ハラル（Halal）) category. It listed 59 items when we checked.

The category mainly contains imported ingredients such as coconut milk, green curry, oyster sauce, and syrup.

We could not find a statement on Kaldi’s website that Kaldi itself has certification. Its role is to buy and sell products that have been certified.

Which version of the allergen categories does a table use?

There is another useful place to check on a manufacturer’s website: its allergen information page.

An amendment on April 1, 2026 moved cashews from recommended to mandatory labeling and added pistachios to the recommended list. Labeling is mandatory for nine items and recommended for 20. A Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) administrative notice states that a two-year transition period was provided.

Old and new categories therefore coexist. Kaldi’s frequently asked questions say “nine specified ingredients” (特定原材料　9品目), placing cashews in the mandatory group and pistachios in the recommended group. By contrast, when checked, allergen information from Morinaga & Co., Calbee, Bourbon, and Koikeya still used “eight specified ingredients” (特定原材料8品目) and “20 items equivalent to specified ingredients” (特定原材料に準ずるもの20品目).

Both are allowed during the transition period. The categories show which period’s standards the page follows. We apply the same approach to restaurant chain lists in How Much Can Chain Restaurants’ Published Information Tell You About Pork and Alcohol?.

Pork and gelatin remain in the recommended group after the amendment. Not being listed does not mean an ingredient is absent.

Where to look differs by company

Where to look for the same information varies from company to company.

Morinaga & Co. has an allergy information search page. You can search across products, including entries for pork and gelatin. A PDF list is also available.

Calbee offers “Allergen Search” (アレルゲン検索), and Bourbon offers “Allergy Search” (アレルギー検索), both as search tools. Koikeya has a table of products rather than a search tool.

Kaldi Coffee Farm does not provide allergen information for each product. Its frequently asked questions list the relevant items and direct readers to the ingredient list on the back of the product. As a store handling many imported goods, it probably is not in a position to create its own table in the first place.

To start, search for the company name and “allergy” (アレルギー). Following links from a product page may not get you there.

What you can say when giving snacks as a souvenir

This section is about giving snacks to someone else.

You can share three things: that the product was made in Japan; whether the manufacturer publishes its halal certification status or does not; and what the ingredient list says.

With these three points, the recipient can decide for themselves. Giving them information is more reliable than adding “I think it’s fine.”

If you can give them the whole box, that is the quickest way. The ingredient list and manufacturer’s name are both on it.

We explain how to ask questions in “Is It Halal?” Is Not Enough: How to Ask When Checking at a Restaurant. The approach is the same whether you are asking a restaurant or a manufacturer.

The order to check things

To check store-bought snacks, follow this order.

First, read the ingredient list on the package. Look for terms such as gelatin (ゼラチン) or emulsifier (乳化剤) that do not state their origin.

Next, open the manufacturer’s FAQs. Some companies discuss halal certification. Others state the origin of gelatin. Check the English and Chinese contact pages, too.

If you still do not know, ask the manufacturer’s contact service. You are more likely to get an answer if you first decide the product name and the one thing you want to know.

Use other people’s product-name lists only when they explain their evidence. Without evidence, a list is a starting point for checking, not a conclusion.

For a comparison of convenience store onigiri and bento using information published by three companies, see Are Convenience Store Onigiri and Bento Halal? What the Published Information from 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson Tells You.

Quotes from Japanese sources in this article are our own translations.

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