Halal status of Colgate toothpaste

I was browsing my Statcounter logs earlier and found an interesting search engine entry into my blog. One of my earliest posts was about a halal scandal involving Colgate toothpaste, and apparently it’s now a popular enough reference on the topic. I’ve actually seen a few Google searches on “Colgate” and “halal” leading into my blog before, but I never bothered to check it out much.

This latest search was for the phrase “is Colgate haram”, and interestingly, my blog post appears on page 3 of the Google results (as of this writing).

I figure it’s only appropriate I update that post with the latest info, which is to say that the issue has been settled (at least, for now). I can’t say about other locales, but the Colgate toothpaste sold in Malaysia is now certified halal. You can check out Colgate Malaysia’s statement, which specifically states that:

“The calcium in Colgate toothpaste is sourced from minerals.
The glycerin in Colgate toothpaste is sourced from plants.”

I hope this puts to rest the question of whether Colgate toothpaste is haram.

The other question that remains unresolved is whether the original “flyer” was indeed a misinformation marketing tactic, or was created for genuine reasons. I suppose it’s irrelevant, because in the end, Colgate sat up, took notice, and went ahead with the halal certification process to prove its credentials.