Etqa is a free app for iPhone and Android. Scan a barcode and see whether a product is halal, mashbooh or haram, which ingredient decided it, and how the food scores for nutrition, processing and additives.
Free to download. Available in English, Arabic and Turkish.
Screen recording of the Etqa app: a barcode is scanned, then a halal verdict, the nutrition scores, a mashbooh verdict and a haram verdict are shown in turn.
19,616 ingredient names classified in Etqa’s database
It helps you look after what matters most: your faith, your health and the people you feed.
Keeping halal should not mean decoding every label by hand. Etqa checks each ingredient on the list, E-numbers included, and shows the verdict in seconds.
Permitted is not the same as good for you. The same scan shows how the food scores for nutrition and processing, so you can compare two products before you choose.
You decide what goes in the basket for everyone at home. Etqa lets you check it before you pay.
A scan takes a second. Here is what it does for you at the shelf.
Animation: the ingredient list of a breakfast cereal fills the screen in English and Spanish. Etqa highlights five of the ingredients, corn syrup, gelatin and three colourings, then shows the product’s Nutri-Score and NOVA group.
Every line of the ingredient list is matched against 19,616 classified names, E-numbers included, so the ingredients to watch stand out.
Animation: three breakfast cereals from one shelf, each with a Nutri-Score grade and a NOVA group. The three get different grades.
Products that sit side by side can score very differently. Scan each one and compare Nutri-Score, NOVA group and additives before you choose.
Animation: a till receipt lists five scanned products, each with a Nutri-Score grade and a NOVA group. Four of the five are ultra-processed.
Each product you scan is saved to your history with its verdict and its Nutri-Score grade, so you can see how a whole shop adds up.
One scan at the shelf, instead of reading the fine print and searching for every E-number.
Scan an unfamiliar brand without leaving the aisle. The verdict and the scores come up together.
Point the camera at the ingredient list on the pack and Etqa analyses the text. What you add is there for the next person who scans it.
Check the NOVA group, the additives and the sugars of a snack before it goes in the basket.
Suhoor, iftar and gift baskets mean more shopping and more labels. Check each product as you go.
Etqa reads the ingredient list and gives the product the classification of its strictest ingredient. You always see which ingredient decided it.
Every ingredient on the list is classified halal in Etqa’s database.
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats ingredient list
Whole grain rolled oats.
Halal All ingredients verified halal
List from Open Food Facts, product 0030000010204
At least one ingredient can be halal or haram depending on where it comes from, and the label does not say. Etqa names it, shows how to check, and adds the company’s statement when one is on record.
Haribo Orsetti d’Oro ingredient list
Glucose syrup, sugar, gelatine, dextrose, fruit juice from concentrate (apple, strawberry, raspberry, orange, lemon, pineapple), acid: citric acid, fruit and plant concentrates (safflower, spirulina, apple, elderberry, orange, blackcurrant, kiwi, lemon, aronia, mango, passion fruit, grape), flavouring, elderberry extract, glazing agents: white and yellow beeswax, carnauba wax.
Mashbooh 2 ingredients need source verification
Gelatine. Mashbooh. Permissibility depends on the animal source (pig vs. cow) and slaughter method. While some scholars accept transformation (Istihalah) of impure sources, the conservative view requires Halal-slaughtered animals. Avoid unless certified Halal.
Carnauba wax (E903). Classified as Mashbooh due to potential use of alcohol solvents during processing, though the raw ingredient is a Halal plant-derived wax.
List from Open Food Facts, product 4001686301265
At least one ingredient is classified haram. One is enough: the product is marked haram and the ingredient is shown.
Rosarita Traditional Refried Beans ingredient list
Cooked beans, water, less than 2% of: lard, salt, distilled vinegar, potassium salt, sea salt, chili pepper, onion powder, spices, natural flavor, garlic powder.
Haram Contains 1 haram ingredient
Lard. Classified haram. Database category: meat product (pork-derived).
Natural flavor. Natural flavor is Mashbooh. Halal status depends on carrier solvents, animal-derived components, and specific formulation.
List from USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 2715997
The three lists are the ingredient lists of the products in the screenshots, as recorded by Open Food Facts and USDA FoodData Central on 2 October 2026. The classifications and the reasons are quoted from Etqa’s database. Recipes change: the pack in your hand is the reference.
Scan the barcode or type its number. Product records come from Open Food Facts, USDA FoodData Central and Etqa’s own research.
Each ingredient on the list is matched against 19,616 classified names, E-numbers included.
One haram ingredient makes the product haram. Otherwise one doubtful ingredient makes it mashbooh.
Animation of the Etqa nutrition view: Nutri-Score A, NOVA group 1 and zero additives, then sugars, saturated fat, total fat and sodium rated low or medium, then the full nutrition panel.
A halal verdict says nothing about sugar or processing, so the result screen shows both.
One grade from A to E for overall nutritional quality per 100 g or 100 ml. Created by Santé publique France, the French public health agency.
A group from 1 to 4 for how much a food has been processed, from unprocessed or minimally processed to ultra-processed.
The number of additives on the ingredient list.
Sugars, saturated fat, total fat and sodium rated per 100 g, with the full nutrition panel underneath.
Ask Etqa AI is the chat assistant in the app. Ask about an ingredient, about its safety, or about what the schools of Islamic law say, and get an answer in seconds.
Every answer is marked in the app: “AI-generated answer. It can be wrong and is not a religious ruling (fatwa).” Each one has a link to report it.
More about the assistant
The assistant’s greeting in the app: Salam Alaikum! I can help you analyze ingredients, E-numbers and understand Islamic rulings.
Questions you can ask
Use the camera, type a barcode number, or look up a single ingredient by name.
The full ingredient list sorted into halal, mashbooh and haram, with a count for each.
Open any ingredient to read why it is classified that way, with its E-number and what it does in food.
Energy, carbohydrates, added sugars, fibre, protein and salt per 100 g, under the three scores.
Point the camera at the ingredient list on the pack and Etqa analyses the text. What you add is there for the next person who scans it.
Record your own position on animal rennet, vanilla extract, gelatine, carmine, non-fish seafood and kosher-slaughtered meat. The choices are kept for your reference; verdicts do not change with them.
Bronze at 50 scans, Silver at 100, Gold at 250 and Platinum at 500.
The Etqa app preview with Arabic captions: a barcode is scanned, then a halal verdict, the nutrition scores, a mashbooh verdict and a haram verdict are shown in turn.
English, Arabic and Turkish. The clip is the app preview with its Arabic captions.
The Islamic Dietary Guide in the app explains them, so a verdict is never just a colour.
Etqa lists recent recall notices from the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and from the US Food and Drug Administration, with the class of each recall.
Figures on what is in packaged food. Every number links to its source.
Six things you get with Etqa, and the facts of one scan.
What one scan gives you
Not a halal certificate. Not a fatwa. Always read the label.
A scan answers two questions at once: may I eat it, and is it good for me.
Etqa names the ingredient that decided the result and explains why it is classified that way.
When a label does not say where an ingredient comes from, the product is marked mashbooh, with what to check and the company’s statement when one is on record.
On questions such as gelatine, carmine or seafood, the app sets out the difference and lets you record your own position.
The classification and the reason for 20 common E-numbers are published on this site, with the method and its limits.
Every verdict has a report link, and shoppers add missing products, dietary labels and company statements.
Look up one of 20 common additives by code or name. Each page gives Etqa’s classification and the reason for it, and for most additives where it comes from and what it is used in.
Etqa is a free barcode-scanning app for iPhone and Android.
It shows whether a food product is halal, mashbooh or haram based on its ingredient list, names the ingredient that decided the verdict, and shows the product’s Nutri-Score, NOVA group, additive count and nutrition per 100 g.
You know in seconds whether a product is halal, mashbooh or haram, and which ingredient decided it, without reading the fine print or searching for E-numbers.
The same scan shows the Nutri-Score, the NOVA group, the additive count and the nutrition per 100 g, so you can compare products and choose the healthier one.
You also get recent recall notices, an assistant for your questions and a history of what you scanned. Etqa is free.
No. Etqa is not a certification body and its classifications are not a fatwa.
It reads the ingredient list and shows how each ingredient is classified in its database.
A halal logo from a recognised certifier covers things an ingredient list cannot show, such as slaughter and production lines. For a definitive answer, ask a scholar or certifier you trust.
Mashbooh means doubtful.
Etqa uses it when an ingredient can be halal or haram depending on its source or how it was made, and the label does not say which. Gelatine and E471 are common examples.
It matches every ingredient on the list against its database of 19,616 classified ingredient names.
The product takes the classification of its strictest ingredient: one haram ingredient makes it haram; otherwise one mashbooh ingredient makes it mashbooh.
From Open Food Facts, an open database published under the Open Database License, from USDA FoodData Central, and from Etqa’s own research.
Recall notices come from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and the US Food and Drug Administration.
Point the camera at the ingredient list on the pack and Etqa analyses the text, or look up ingredients by name.
What you add is there for the next person who scans the same barcode.
Yes. Ask Etqa AI is the chat assistant in the app. It answers questions about ingredients and E-numbers, about their safety, and about what the schools of Islamic law say.
An answer about an ingredient gives its classification, its E-number and category, a summary and any safety concern.
Every answer is marked as AI-generated: it can be wrong and it is not a religious ruling (fatwa).
No. You can save an avoid list and diet preferences in your profile as a reminder, but scans do not check products against them.
Always read the label.
Nutri-Score is a grade from A to E for the overall nutritional quality of a food per 100 g or 100 ml, created by Santé publique France.
NOVA sorts foods into four groups by how much they are processed, from unprocessed to ultra-processed.
Etqa is free to download on the App Store and Google Play.
The app is available in English, Arabic and Turkish.
Every verdict screen in the app has a “Report this verdict” link.
You can also write to support@etqaa.org.
Scan any barcode. Free on iPhone and Android.
Etqa