Doubtful Foods & Drinks

What to do with doubtful food received from non-Muslims?

Q: I often receive chocolates or cakes or other foods stuff from colleagues/friends or neighbors. We take special care about ingredients and if we are not sure, we don't consume it, in fact usually we don't consume.

Can we give such things, we are not sure of, to non-Muslims, such as homeless people, or even non-Muslim neighbours? Or should we throw the food in the dust bin?

Eating products with alcohol based flavours

Q: I recently contacted a company called Arnott's to find out whether one of their chocolate filling biscuit products, 'TimTam' was halaal and this was their response:

"Small amounts of alcohol based flavours (like vanilla essence) are added to sweet biscuits. We know alcohol is sensitive to heat and we believe the alcohol is evaporated during baking, but there is a slight possibility that trace amounts could still be present in the finished product."

Is this biscuit halaal?

Doubtful foods

Q: Are mushbooh foods considered najis? If I have some food which I later found out contained some mushbooh ingredients, and there is some residue/crumbs in my kitchen, do I consider this najis?

Drinking mocha ice frappe with less than 0.05% alcohol

Q: In McDonalds, the mocha ice frappe I used to buy was said by McDonalds to be suitable for vegetarians. However, apparently the whip used on top has less than 0.05% alcohol in it. I read this statement by McDonalds: “The level of alcohol is very low and evaporates during the process. The alcohol level in the final Caramel Iced Frappe, Chocolate Chip Iced Frappe and whipped cream is less that 0.05%.“ Does this mean I can purchase the drink based on this knowledge?