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Is E235 (natamycin) halal? The mould inhibitor on the cheese rind

Natamycin is a substance from soil bacteria that keeps mould off cheese rinds and raw sausage casings. It raises nothing itself, and Tayyib does not flag it. It does not settle the halal question, though, it only moves it: to the cheese under the rind and the sausage in the casing.

Published 22 September 2026

Anyone who reads E235 on a Gouda for the first time and looks it up soon runs into the word antibiotic. The word is not wrong, but for this question it points the wrong way. What matters for the halal verdict is not what natamycin does but what it is made from, and that can be said fairly precisely.

What natamycin is

Natamycin belongs to the polyene macrolides, a group of substances that act against yeasts and moulds and leave bacteria alone. It is made by soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. The strain it was first isolated from, in 1955, came from Pietermaritzburg in what was then the South African province of Natal. Both of its names come from there: pimaricin, as it was first called, after the town, and natamycin after the species Streptomyces natalensis.

That it does not attack bacteria is the whole point with cheese. The lactic acid bacteria that ripen a cheese carry on working while no mould grows on the surface.

Outside only: what the EU allows

E235 is one of the most narrowly approved additives in the EU. The additives regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, allows it only for the surface treatment of two groups:

hard, semi-hard and semi-soft cheese,
dried, cured sausages, that is raw sausage such as salami.

The limit is 1 mg per square decimetre of surface, and the substance must not be detectable 5 mm below the surface. It is not approved for any other food in the EU, unlike in the United States, where it may also go into yoghurt or grated cheese.

The reason for the narrow approval is medical. Natamycin is also a drug against fungal infections, in eye drops for example, and regulators did not want to encourage resistance through wide use in food. EFSA re-evaluated the substance in 2009 and saw no concern for its use on rinds and sausage casings, including on resistance. That is a food safety question, not a halal one, and the two belong apart.

What it is made from: the growth medium

Natamycin is won neither from a plant nor from an animal. Streptomyces cultures produce it in large fermentation tanks, and it is then separated from the broth. No animal is involved. The only point where a halal question can attach at all is the growth medium the bacteria live on.

The EU specification for E235 in Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 names only the organism and is silent on the medium. Nisin (E234) is different: its specification explicitly names a milk-based medium, as set out under preservatives. The technical literature on producing natamycin mostly describes glucose, soy protein and yeast extract as the medium. A manufacturer is not obliged to disclose it, though.

How such a product is judged was set down by the Indonesian council of scholars, MUI, in its Fatwa No 1 of 2010 on microbes and microbial products in food: a microbial product is halal when the medium the organism grows on is pure, and haram when material from pigs serves as the medium. That is why a certifier looking at a fermentation product checks the medium and not the bacteria.

For the verdict this means: there is no indication that animal media are usual for E235, and no pack would show it if they were. Tayyib therefore does not flag natamycin. Anyone who wants this last point settled as well needs a halal certificate for the finished product.

What the label says and what it does not

On packaged cheese natamycin has to be in the ingredient list, as "Konservierungsstoff: Natamycin" or "Konservierungsstoff: E235" (preservative). At the cheese counter it is different. For loose goods, according to the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office in Stuttgart, the note "mit Konservierungsstoff" or "konserviert" (with preservative, preserved) is enough, without naming the substance. If you want to know there whether it is natamycin, you have to ask.

Often the natamycin does not sit directly on the rind but in the cheese coating, the yellow or red layer made from a plastic dispersion, usually polyvinyl acetate. For such a coating the note "Kunststoffüberzug nicht zum Verzehr geeignet" (plastic coating not edible) is compulsory. The sentence "Rinde nicht zum Verzehr geeignet" (rind not edible), by contrast, is a voluntary statement by the manufacturer. Since the EFSA evaluation, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment considers a natural rind treated with natamycin fit to eat. None of these notes is relevant to halal, neither the coating nor the substance in it.

Under the rind: the real questions

Natamycin is often the most striking word on the label. On these products, though, it is never what decides the verdict.

With cheese it is the rennet. Where "Lab" or "Labferment" (rennet) stands in the list without its kind, Tayyib flags the cheese as doubtful, and with "mikrobielles Lab" (microbial rennet) it does not. The natamycin on the rind changes that in neither direction. The full account is under is cheese halal.

With raw sausage it is the meat and the casing. Pork, bacon or pork casing give not halal, beef, lamb or poultry with no halal statement give doubtful. Cheese has no counterpart to what comes next, sausage does: the collagen casing. It is made from animal connective tissue, mostly cattle hide, and Tayyib flags collagen with no stated source as doubtful. That holds even when "halal" stands by the meat, because that statement covers the meat and not the casing. The word natural casing on its own names no animal and is not flagged. How the ripening of a raw sausage is judged is under fermented food.

What Tayyib flags

Not flagged: natamycin, E235 and pimaricin, and a coating of polyvinyl acetate.
Doubtful: rennet with no kind given.
Not flagged: microbial rennet.
Not halal: pork, bacon or pork casing in the list.
Doubtful: beef, lamb or poultry with no halal statement.
Doubtful: collagen casing with no stated source, even beside halal meat.

In short

E235 is natamycin, a substance against mould and yeast made by Streptomyces bacteria.
In the EU it is allowed only on the surface of hard and semi-hard cheese and of raw sausage, at most 1 mg per dm² and no deeper than 5 mm.
No animal raw material. The only thing that could stay open is the growth medium, on which the EU specification is silent.
Under MUI Fatwa 1/2010 the purity of the medium decides for microbial products.
At the counter the label often says only "with preservative", with no name.
Rennet, meat and casing decide the verdict, not the natamycin.

Common questions

Is E235 halal?

From everything known about how it is made, yes. Natamycin is produced by soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces, with no animal raw material. The only thing that could stay open is the growth medium, and the EU specification does not prescribe it. Tayyib does not flag E235. On cheese and sausage, what decides is the ingredients under the rind.

Is natamycin an antibiotic?

In the broad sense yes, more precisely an antifungal: it acts against yeasts and moulds, not against bacteria. It is also used as a drug, in eye drops for example, and that is why the EU allows it only on the surface of cheese and raw sausage. None of this has anything to do with the halal question.

Can I eat a rind treated with natamycin?

A plastic coating is never meant to be eaten, and the pack has to say so. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has considered a natural rind treated with natamycin fit to eat since the EFSA evaluation of 2009. "Rind not edible" is a voluntary statement. For the halal question the rind plays no part.

Why does the cheese counter not say E235?

Because loose goods do not have to name the substance. There "with preservative" or "preserved" is enough, and which substance is meant you only learn by asking. On packaged cheese, natamycin or E235 has to be in the ingredient list.

Does natamycin make a salami halal or haram?

Neither. The natamycin sits on the outside of the casing and raises nothing. The salami is decided by the meat and the casing: pork or pork casing is not halal, beef or poultry with no halal statement is doubtful, and so is a collagen casing with no stated source.