New York City - New Antiwrinkle Body Injection Made of Pig Collagen, Is It Kosher To Use?

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New York City - Americans can have all sorts of materials injected into their faces in the name of beauty. There’s Botox, a diluted form of botulinum toxin, and Hylaform, a gel derived from rooster combs.

Now comes Evolence, an antiwrinkle injection made of pig collagen.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Evolence, from OrthoNeutrogena, a part of Johnson & Johnson, as an injectable material to treat facial wrinkles. Evolence, made in Israel, is made by extracting, purifying and stabilizing collagen from the tendons of food-grade pigs.

Porcine-derived drugs and devices, such as heart valves, have long been used in medicine because of the biocompatibility of pig and human tissue.

Evolence, unlike antiwrinkle shots made using cow collagen, does not require an allergy test. But here’s the wrinkle: are swine shots kosher?

Judaism prohibits eating pig products. But other uses of porcine material — like tossing around footballs — are permitted, said Rabbi Edward I. Reichman, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Dr. Reichman added that porcine beauty shots per se would not violate Jewish dietary laws. But such injections could provide fodder for an ongoing debate about whether Jews are permitted to take health risks for cosmetic procedures.

“The debate, started with rhinoplasty 30 years ago, remains a debate,” Dr. Reichman said.

Islam can sometimes be tolerant of cosmetic surgery but prohibitive when it comes to porcine products, said Abdulaziz Sachedina, a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

“In the Middle East, even men go for the fixing of the nose,” he said. “That is allowed.”

But Shariah, Islamic law, forbids the use of any kind of porcine product, ingested or otherwise, unless it is medically necessary, he said.

“Anything that is used to enhance your appearance does not qualify as a necessity,” said Dr. Sachedina, who is the author of a forthcoming book on Islamic biomedical ethics.