Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!usc!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!bes
From: merlyn@digibd.digibd.com (Brian Westley (Merlyn LeRoy))
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: pepsi haraam
Message-ID: <1991Jan25.045116.5230@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 25 Jan 91 04:51:16 GMT
Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Lines: 22
Approved: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu

ut-emx!blais@emx.utexas.edu (Donald Blais) writes:
>In article <1991Jan19.063346.14368@wpi.WPI.EDU> raza@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Z. Raza Hussain) writes:
>>a friend informed me yesterday that the well known soft drink pepsi
>>(sold all over the world) is indeed haraam - this is because it's
>>supposed to contain PEPSIN (pigs blood?).
>Pepsin is a digestive enzyme (not blood) found in the stomach.  It can
>be obtained from the stomachs of hogs for use as a digestive aid.  The
>Pepsi company may be willing to tell you whether it is an ingredient.

"Pepsi-cola" got its name because it was first sold as a tonic good
for digestion & peptic ulcers, not because it was made from digestive
juices.  The book "Big Secrets" by William Poundstone analyzes both
Pepsi and Coke; no weird stuff in Pepsi found.

On a related note, Coca-cola contains a small amount of alcohol
(something like .25%, not enough to get drunk on), and, as far as
I know, still uses de-cocanized coca leaves, which means it has a
very small but not detectable amount of cocaine.  It was also sold
as a tonic when it had more cocaine in it.

---
Merlyn LeRoy