Seeing the word “natural” on a product’s label can often mislead consumers into thinking the product is healthy or — for Muslims — Halal, but that isn’t always the case.

When a product is made with natural flavoring, for instance, the ingredients may come from animals, fruits, vegetables and even eggs or dairy products.

“It’s a very gray area, said Sami Absy, Halal processing coordinator with Halal Transactions of Omaha. “The idea is that it is natural and is not made in a lab.”

Indeed, natural does not necessarily equate healthy, Absy said.

“There aren’t as many safety measures for natural flavorings,” he said. “Artificial flavorings, on the other hand, is stuff strictly made in the lab, and they have many more safety measures.”

Meanwhile, as customers see natural flavoring on an ingredient label and the product isn’t certified Halal, Absy advised consumers contact the company.

Part of Absy’s job with HTO entails tracing down the origin of natural flavorings before the product can become certified Halal.

“It’s a rigorous process,” he said. “It can be very vague. For instance, processing companies may have an idea of what is used, but might not have details. If they don’t know, I go to the ingredients company. I go to the original source and get the information from them.”

Only then can he determine whether the natural flavor comes from a Halal source or not.

天然的，清真吗？

产品标签上的“天然”一词，经常会误导消费者认为产品是健康的，或者——对穆斯林而言——是清真的，但事实并非总是如此。

例如，当一种产品用天然调味料制作时，原料可能来自动物、水果、蔬菜，甚至是鸡蛋或奶制品。

“这是一个灰色地带，”Sami Absy——奥马哈清真事务处理协调员说道，“我们的想法是，它是天然的，而不是在实验室制造的。”

实际上，天然的并不等同于健康的，Absy说。

“对于天然调味料来说，并没有那么多的安全措施，”他说，“另一方面，人工调味料是在实验室里严格生产出来的东西，它们有更多的安全措施。”

与此同时，当顾客看到成分标签上有天然调味料，但产品并未经过清真认证，Absy建议消费者联系该公司。

Absy的部分工作是在产品成为合格的清真产品之前，追踪天然调味料的来源。

“这是一个严格的过程，”他说，“这可能是非常模糊的。例如，处理公司可能对所使用的内容有一个概念，但可能没有详细信息。如果他们不知道，我要去配料公司，去找原始来源，从他们那里获取信息。”

只有这样，他才能确定这种自然调味料是否来自清真来源。