Our Ingredients

Full ingredient disclosure. Below is our approach to ingredient selection, a list of ingredients we never use, and the questions we have not yet been able to answer.

How we select ingredients

1. Halal-permissible. Every ingredient is reviewed against our published halal standard. No porcine derivatives, no alcohol-based excipients, no L-cysteine from undisclosed sources, no carmine, no gelatin in capsules or gummies.
2. Clinically-relevant form and dose. Forms with research support (magnesium glycinate, not oxide; methyl-folate, not folic acid), dosed at the levels used in that research.
3. Documented. Lab reports and Certificates of Analysis available on request, per product and per lot. More on what we ask for and what exists.

Ingredients we never use

• Porcine gelatin — standard in most supplement capsules and gummies. We use HPMC vegetable capsules and pectin gummy bases.
• Alcohol-based excipients — common in liquid supplements and vanilla flavor systems. We use water-based or alcohol-free vanilla extract.
• Carmine (cochineal red dye) — crushed beetle pigment. Not in any ZMZM product.
• Titanium dioxide — banned in EU food. Not in any ZMZM gummy.
• L-cysteine from undisclosed sources — commonly derived from duck feathers or human hair in commodity supplements. We use synthetic or fermented L-cysteine when needed.
• Artificial colors and flavors — not used in any ZMZM product.
• Synthetic sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium) — not used.

Open questions

Things we have asked for in writing and have not yet been told. We publish them rather than leave them out. When an answer arrives it appears here with the date, whichever way it lands.

How to read this list. An ingredient here is not an ingredient we think is wrong. It is one where the name alone does not settle the question and we have not been handed paperwork that does. We do not list ingredients that are merely capable of an animal origin when modern manufacturing makes that unlikely — that is not transparency, it is noise.

• Whey rennet source. Whey is a by-product of cheesemaking, and the rennet used can be microbial or animal-derived. It never appears on a whey label because it acts on the cheese upstream. We have asked for ours in writing. Unanswered as of September 2026. Affects the Pure3 Whey Isolate.
• Hydrolyzed collagen source. Collagen always comes from an animal — the open question is which. Bovine, porcine and marine are all common. Requested in writing. Unanswered as of September 2026. Affects the Snail Mucin Face Serum, where the full reasoning is published.
• Magnesium stearate source. A flow agent in several of our capsules, derivable from vegetable or animal fat. We have asked for the source in writing. Unanswered as of August 2026.
• Glycerin source. Glycerin can be vegetable, synthetic or animal tallow. Our Charcoal Facial Cleanser states vegetable glycerin on the label; for several other formulas the label says only 'glycerin' and we have asked which. Unanswered as of September 2026.
• Natural flavor carrier solvents. 'Natural flavor' can carry undisclosed solvents, including alcohol-based ones. Requested in writing. Unanswered as of August 2026.
• Processing aids. Not required to appear on a supplement label. We have asked for a written list of any animal-derived processing aids used in our formulations. Unanswered as of August 2026.

If an open question above matters to your decision, do not buy the affected product until it is answered. We would rather lose the sale than have you take something on an assumption.

Answered — and still worth saying

Not every disclosure is an unanswered question. These are things we do know, published here because a buyer might reasonably want to weigh them.

• Vitamin D3 in Ashwagandha Plus is most likely lanolin-derived. Commercial cholecalciferol is usually made from lanolin — the grease combed out of sheep wool. It is generally held to be permissible: taken from a living animal without harming it, and not pork-derived. What it does mean is that the product is not vegan, and we would rather you heard that from us than found it out somewhere else. Written confirmation of the source for our own lots has been requested. Affects Ashwagandha Plus.

Capsule material

ZMZM capsules use HPMC (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) — a vegetable-derived cellulose. Plant-derived, halal-permissible, vegan. Where we have not confirmed it for a newly added product, we make no halal claim for that product until we have.

Gummy base

All ZMZM gummies use pectin, derived from fruit. Halal-permissible, vegan.

Sweeteners

Natural sources only: organic cane sugar in limited amounts, monk fruit extract, stevia leaf extract, natural fruit juice concentrates. No sucralose, no aspartame, no high-fructose corn syrup.

Skincare exclusions

For the Nūr Skincare Collection we additionally exclude:

• Silicones (dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane) — they form water-repellent films, which is a wuḍū' question rather than an ingredient one. One exception we would rather name than bury: the Snail Mucin Face Serum contains dimethicone crosspolymer and amodimethicone. It is the only Nūr formula that does, and it is disclosed on its product page.
• SD alcohol / alcohol denat. — drying, and excluded under our halal standard
• Artificial fragrance — leading cause of contact dermatitis
• Parabens — endocrine disruption concerns
• Sulfates (SLS, SLES) — barrier-stripping in cleansers
• Mineral oil — pore-clogging
• Acrylate copolymers — long-wear film formers

Ingredient questions?

Email support@zmzmlabs.com. We will send the sourcing documentation that exists for the ingredient you ask about — and tell you plainly where it does not exist yet.

How to read a halal label →
Our standard →
Lab reports →