In April 2004, the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) established business relations with Dyadic International, Inc. Their manufacturing plants in Poland and the USA have been inspected and found to meet GMP and Halal requirements.

Dyadic International, Inc. is currently producing over eighty-five IFANCA Halal certified products that are manufactured at the Polish and American plants. Among the IFANCA Halal certified products are various Food Grade Enzymes. Dyadic International, headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, USA, is the first company to obtain IFANCA Halal certification in Poland.

Dyadic International markets its products and services to the textile, chemical, agricultural, pulp & paper, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other industries, using its proprietary C1 Expression Technology, a patented protein expression system for the development and production of biological products.

Dyadic is enjoying continuous growth in the Industrial Enzyme Business Unit (30% growth in the last 2 years). Dyadic believes that the C1 Expression System will eventually be able to produce therapeutic proteins more efficiently, in larger volumes and at lower costs than the existing methods in use by pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. That could make these drugs more affordable to a growing patient population.

On behalf of IFANCA, I would like to thank Dyadic for their continued dedication to providing Halal certified enzymes for use by the pharmaceutical, food, and other related industries.

1. Can We Eat Products Containing Sodium Steroyl Lactylate?

Sodium stearoyl lactylate is an emulsifier. There are many different emulsifiers used in the food industry. Others include monoglycerides, diglycerides, esters of fatty acids and lecithin. Emulsifiers are compounds used to keep oils or fats and water dispersed in one phase (i.e., they prevent oil and water from separating). This is important in products that combine water soluble and oil soluble ingredients. Emulsifiers are used in a wide variety of products including baked goods, peanut butter, margarine, shortening and other products.

These items can be derived from animal or vegetable sources. Unless the source is known, we consider them questionable because they may have been derived from haram sources. At present, food labels do not usually list the source of these questionable ingredients so the only way to know if they are appropriate for the Halal diet is to ask the manufacturer about the source or for the product containing the ingredient to be Halal certified. Of course, Halal certification is preferred.

And ALLAH, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, knows best.