What Type of Yeast is Impermissible?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

What type of yeast is haram? Is the yeast that is in products like bread or potato wedges haram? I ate some a while ago, not sure whether it was haram, but I remember reading it wasn’t a time ago, but now I am not sure anymore. So if I read there is yeast on these types of products like bread or tortillas or pancake or pizza, is that haram?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

Yeast is generally permissible due to necessity and public predicament as it is widely used in the food industry, except for Brewer’s yeast. If Brewer’s yeast is sourced from plants, then it is permissible. If it is sourced from alcohol, then there is a difference of opinion among Muftis on whether chemical transformation (Tabdil al-Mahiyya) has occurred. Some allow it due to chemical transformation, necessity, and public predicament as it is widely used in the food industry. Some say research still needs to take place. See the links below.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.

Related:

• Alcohol Flavourings and Vanilla Extracts Clarification 
• Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
• Brewer’s’ Yeast: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews
• Brewer’s Yeast: Benefits, Side Effects, and More
• Is it permissible to consume yeast?

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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.