UNRAVELING THE ISSUE OF ALCOHOL

FOR THE HALAL INDUSTRY

DZULKIFLY MAT HASHIM

HALAL PRODUCTS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

43400 SERDANG SELANGOR MALAYSIA

NOT HALAL

The following food products are included in this category:

The Haram food products that are made with pork-by-product

ingredients and wine.

The products that are made from natural and artificial flavors which

are not Halal or Kosher certified with or with out alcohol as a

solvent.

The products that are made with alcoholic fermentation and may

contain 2-3 % alcohol such as naturally brewed soy sauce.

PRODUCTION OF ALCOHOLIC

BEVERAGE AND INDUSTRIAL

ETHANOL

BEER PRODUCTION PROCESS

Source : www.emt-india.net/process/distillery/Brewery

(Courtesy of Fermpro Sdn Bhd.)

INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL (ETHANOL)

Synthetic Alcohol

– Chemically synthesized from Ethylene

– Process:

1. Indirect hydration through addition of sulfuric acid

2. Direct catalytic hydration of ethylene

Agricultural Alcohol

– Derived from Biological Fermentation Process of Carbohydrate

Source

• Fermentation of Sugar

• Fermentation of Starch

• Vinegar – Nipah vinegar

• Fermented palm sap

• Tapai

• Rice wine (tuak)

• Soy sauce

• Budu

• Cincalok

• Tempoyak

• Belacan

• Fermented milk products

LOCAL FERMENTED PRODUCTS

ISSUE # 1

If ethanol is produced using the same process as an intoxicating

alcoholic beverage (i.e. fermentation), does it make it non-halal?

Fermentation is a common preservation process subjected on wheat flour

(sour dough), anchovies (budu), durian (tempoyak), shrimps (belacan and

cincalok), soya beans (soy sauce)

Fermentation will not necessarily produce an intoxicating product

The permissibility from a religious perspective and hence its halal

compliance of such a product will depend on the intention ( Is it to produce

an intoxicant?) and utilisation of the product

Kitab Ikhraj Ma Fi Al-Quwwa Ila Al-fi`l

JABIR IBN HAYYAN

0721 – 0815 A.D.

Ibn Hayyan was

the first person to

discover alcohol

from distillation

of wine

MUHAMMAD IBN

ZAKARIYA AR-RAZI

0850 – 0932 A.D.

Ar-Razi was the

first person to

introduce the use

of alcohol (Al-

Kuhl) for medical

purposes

ISSUE # 2

Is ethanol (alcohol) the same as an intoxicating alcoholic

beverage (khamr)?

The misunderstanding was due to the incorrect translation of term khamr

(Arabic) to alcohol (English)

The term alcohol from the chemistry perspective is more than just ethanol

The permissibility from a religious perspective and hence its halal

compliance of such product will depend on the intention and utilisation of

the product

Ethanol is not necessarily khamr although the intoxicating substance in

khamr is ethanol

ALCOHOL IN FOODS AND FOOD

PREPARATIONS

Malaysia National Islamic Fatwa Committee

(JAKIM)

Cordials which contain any flavouring substances with a certain amount of

alcohol added as a stabiliser for the purpose as a drink, is allowed on the

condition that :

The alcohol is not derived from ‘khamr (intoxicating alcoholic

beverage = liquor) production

The quantity of alcohol in the flavour is small (insignificant) such that

it will not intoxicate

Decision of the 22nd National Fatwa Committee Meeting, 24 November 1988

COUNTRY % ALCOHOL

Malaysia (JAKIM) 0.01

Indonesia (MUI) 1.0

Thailand (AOI) 1.0

Singapore (MUIS) 0.5

Brunei (BIRC) 0.0

Europe < 0.5

UK Not allowed

Canada Not allowed

AOI = ADMINISTRATION OF ORGANIZATIONS OF THE ISLAMIC ACT

JAKIM = DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT MALAYSIA

MUI = MAJELIS ULAMA INDONESIA

MUIS = MAJLIS UGAMA ISLAM SINGAPURA

BIRC = BRUNEI ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS COUNCIL

% ALCOHOL PERMITTED IN FOODS

ALCOHOL

CONTENT IN

FOODS

(JAKIM, 2006)

No Name of Samples Alcohol Content (% v/v)

1 Curry Sauce 0.07

2. Sweet ‘n’ Sour Sauce 0.07

3. Barbeque Sauce 0.09

4. Dark Soy Sauce 0.1

5. Lea & Perrins 0.1

6. Rice Vinegar 0.1

7. Sauce (Brand A1) 0.1

8. Asian Sesame Dressing 0.22

9. Burgess Mint Jelly 0.26

10. Melon Flavour 0.3

11. Wine Vinegar 0.3

12. Tabasco Pepper Sauce 0.4

13. Yee Tonic (Ten Shae Theng) 0.5

14. Vinegar 0.5

15. Dyna Tonic 0.6

16. Dyna Tonic (Ten Shae Theng) 0.7

17. Teriyaki W.J.S 1.5

18. Carbonated Drink 2.0

19. Soy sauce (Kikkoman) 3.1

20. Clear Soy Sauce (Ajinomoto) 3.9

21. Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce 4.1

22. *Cough Syrup (medicine) 4.8

23. Gourmet Cooking (Shao Hsing Hua Tiao

Chiew)

17.6

24. *Mouth Wash A (Personal Care Product) 18

25. *Mouth Wash B (Personal Care Product) 35

* Not food

ALCOHOL CONTENT IN FOODS

Lau S.V. et al (2010), Unpublished Data)

ISSUE # 3

What should be the level of alcohol allowed to be present in food

and beverage (for halal certification)?

Setting the permissible level at 0.01% to 0.05% is not practical as most

foods and beverage have alcohol contents in excess of 0.01%.

There are foods that have relatively higher alcohol contents (up to 0.1%)

such as energy drinks, fermented or cultured drink and vinegar but the

inherent nature of products such as vinegar or sauces and the manner it is

used would not lead to any possibility of intoxication.

Intermediate products (flavour and colouring) have higher ethanol contents

but they are not for direct consumption. Hence, higher a ethanol content may

be allowed in such intermediate products

KHAMR IN FOOD, DRINK AND FOOD

PREPARATION

ISSUEBerita Minggu 17 Feb 2008

Royal Chef Shao Xing

COOKING WINE

ALCOHOL BURN-OFF CHART

Preparation Method Percent Retained

Alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed

from heat

85%

Alcohol flamed 75%

No heat, stored overnight 70%

Baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into

mixture

45%

Baked/simmered dishes with alcohol stirred into mixture:

15 minutes cooking time 40%

30 minutes cooking time 35%

1 hour cooking time 25%

1.5 hours cooking time 20%

2 hours cooking time 10%

2.5 hours cooking time 5%

Shandy = Beer + Lemon Juice

Alcohol content = 0.5% v/v

Alcoholic Energy Drink = Beer Added

Alcohol content = 6 -10 % v/v

DRINKS WITH KHAMR

ISSUE # 3

Is it permissible for alcohol (khamr) to be added in food, drink or

food preparation drink? Will the alcohol be totally evaporated off

during cooking?

It is not permissible to add khamr to any food, drink or food

preparation as this will be seen as contaminating the food with a

prohibited substance

Some khamr will remain in food even after it has been subjected

to the most severe heating or cooking

ALCOHOL INTOXICATION

INTOXICATION EFFECTS

MODEL FOR ETHANOL INTOXICATION AND METABOLISM

• Introduced by Erik Matteo Prochet Widmark

(1889 – 1945), a physiology expert from

Sweden

• He wrote a book, Principles and

Applications of Medico-legal Alcohol

Determination (1932)

WIDMARK’S FORMULA

)EtOH/drink (fl.oz.20.8

t) + CWr(= N

t

Where: N = Number of drinks

W = Body weight in ounces

r = Widmark rho (L/kg)

Ct = BAC at time t (kg/L)

β = Elimination rate (Kg/L/hr)

t = Time in hours from first drink

0.82 = Density of ethanol (oz./fl.oz.)

Source : Dimeff, L.A., Baer, J.S., Kivlahan, D.R. and Marlatt, G.A. (2005). A Harm Reduction Approach. Washington State University.

Source : faculty.washington.edu/chudler/alco.html

INTOXICATION CHART

APPLICATION OF WIDMARK’s FORMULA

• BAC depends on the rate of food intake.

• BAC is 2 times higher in an empty stomach

10

100

1000

10000

100000

0.01 0.05 0.1 0.5 1

VOLUME (ml) CONSUMED IN 1 HOUR BEFORE

INTOXICATION LIMIT (BAC = 0.05 % w/v) *

Volume

(ml)

Alcohol Content (%)

ASSUMPTIONS

Gender = Female

Weight = 55kg

Time = 1 hr

* Based on Widmark’s Formula

CONSUMPTION BEFORE LIMIT OF INTOXICATION (BAC = 0.05% w/v)

ALCOHOL

CONTENT (%)(ML) NO. OF GLASSES COMMENT

0.01 243,000 900 Not Possible (X)

0.05 54,000 200 Not Possible (X)

0.1 24,300 90 Not Possible (X)

0.5 5,130 19 Not Possible (X)

1.0 2430 9 Possible (/)/Not

possible (/)

2.0 1350 5 Possible (/)

Volume of one glass (mug) = 270 ml

Source : Akinshola, B.E. (2001). British Journal

of Pharmacology,133(5): 651–658.

POTENCY FOR INTOXICATION OF VARIOUS ALIPHATIC ALCOHOLS

Source : Liang, T. and Jiang, H.Y. (2002).

British Journal of Pharmacology, 136: 629-635

ISSUE # 4

Can medico-legal principles of intoxication be used to set the

benchmark for a permissible alcohol content in drinks and foods?

Arbitrarily setting benchmarks of permissible alcohol contents

of foods and drinks does not appear to be a prudent approach

Principles of intoxication adopted in the medico-legal field can

possibly be used to assist in setting benchmarks on permissible

alcohol content in food and drinks

SETTING BENCHMARKS OF ETHANOL

CONTENT FOR HALAL APPLICATION

HADITH

Ibn Abbas reported that nabidh was prepared for Allah's

Messenger (May Peace Be Upon Him) in the beginning of the

night and he would drink it in the morning and the following

night and the following day and the night after that up to the

afternoon. If anything was left out of that he gave it to his

servant, or gave orders for it to be poured out.

From: Sahih Muslim, Book 23 (4971- 4974)

Jabir b. Abdullah al-Ansari reported that Allah's

Messenger (May Peace Be Upon Him) prohibited the

preparation of Nabidh by mixing grapes and fresh

dates and he forbade the preparation of Nabidh by

mixing unripe dates with fresh dates.

HADITH

(SAYING OF THE PROPHET)

Nabidh from Dried datesNabidh from Fresh Dates

FERMENTATION OF DATES (NABIDH)

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETER

HEADSPACE ANALYSER (GC-MS-HS)

ALCOHOL CONTENT IN FERMENTED DATES

DAY(FRESH DATES)

Amount of Ethanol (%)

Amount of Methanol (%)

Total Alcohol(%)

0 0.000 0.000 0.000

1 0.006 0.000 0.006

2 0.033 0.001 0.034

3 0.061 0.003 0.064

4 0.086 0.004 0.090

5 0.131 0.003 0.134

DAY

(DRIED DATES)

Amount of Ethanol (%)

Amount of Methanol (%)

Total Alcohol

(%)

0 0.000 0.000 0.000

1 0.009 0.000 0.009

2 0.010 0.003 0.013

3 0.016 0.002 0.018

4 0.036 0.004 0.040

5 0.048 0.004 0.051

% Alcohol

Days

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0 1 2 3 4 5

Fresh Dates sample

Dry Dates Sample

S. Munira. A.R. et al

(2010), Unpublished

Data

ALCOHOL CONTENT OF LAB AND COMMERCIAL TAPAI

(FERMENTED GLUTINOUS RICE)

Fermentation

(hr)

Alcohol content

(% v/v)

24 0.1

48 0.3

72* 0.8

*Tapai pulut is ready to be consumed after 72 hours fermentation

Commercial

SamplesAlcohol content (% v/v)

1 0.8

2 1.0

3 0.8

4 1.6Nurul Hayati, A.H. et al

(2010), Unpublished

Data

COMPOUNDS DETECTED IN FERMENTED GLUTINOUS RICE (TAPAI)

Compounds 24 hours 48 hours 72 hours 96 hours

Acetaldehyde / / / /

Propanal /

2-methyl-propanal /

3-methyl-butanal / /

Ethanol / / / /

1-propanol / / / /

2-methyl-1-propanol / / /

3-methyl-1-butanol / /

Ethyl acetate /

Nurul Hayati, A.H. et al

(2010), Unpublished

Data

ETHANOL CONTENT IN FERMENTED NIPAH (PALM) SAP

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 5 10 15

Eth

an

ol

Co

nte

nt

(%)

Days of Fermentation

Ethanol …

DAYS OF

FERMENTATION

ETHANOL

CONTENT

(%)

0 0.03

1 0.77

2 5.29

3 6.03

4 5.72

5 6.04

6 5.40

7 5.87

8 5.70

14 6.12

Nur Aimi, R. et al (2010), Unpublished Data

COMPOUNDS IN FERMENTED NIPAH SAP

DAYS COMPOUNDS

Formic

acid,

ethyl

ester

Ethyl

acetate

Ethanol 1-propanol 2-methyl-

1-

propanol

3-methyl-

1-butanol

Propanoic

acid

Acetic

acid

0 + + +

7 + + + + + + +

14 + + + + + + + +

21 + + + + + + + +

28 + + + + + + + +

35 + + + + + + + +

42 + + + + + + + +

50 + + + + + + + +

Nur Aimi, R. et al (2010), Unpublished Data

ISSUE # 5

What should be the alcohol contents in fermented foods?

The maximum alcohol content in nabidh (fermented dates) at 3 days is around

0.06 %.

Tapai has registered values higher than 1% but no record of intoxication

exists.

The effect of the density of the food matrix or substrate will need to be

investigated further.

The alcohol content of nipah (palm) sap is considerably higher

EA-IRMS ANALYSIS OF ETHANOL

RESULTS 13C OF ETHANOL SAMPLES

13C OF ETHANOL STANDARDS

CELLULOSE

SUCROSE

13C OF RED AND WHITE WINES

CELLULOSE

13C OF INDUSTRIAL ETHANOL

SUCROSE

IRMS ON ETHANOL - SUMMARY

Samples are referenced vs. two international standards C3

(cellulose) and CH-6 (sucrose)

Overall standard deviation is well below 0.1 permil

Industrial ethanol is apparently derived from C4-plant

products

Cooking wine may be mixed with C4-plant derived ethanol

Fermented glutinous rice ethanol does not show C4-plant

isotopic signature

GC-GC TOF MASS SPECTROMETER

GC GC CHROMATOGRAMS OF ETHANOL

nenene

pe3pe3

pe3

pe2

pe2

pe2

pe1pe1

pe1

se1se1se1se2se2

se2se3se1se1

cece

ce

Nipah ethanol

Pineapple ethanol

Sugarcane ethanol

Cassava ethanol

PCA PLOT OF ETHANOLS FROM DIFFERENT BOTANICAL SOURCE

GC X GC- TOF- MS ON ETHANOL :

SUMMARY

Ethanols from various plant sources can be clearly

distinguished based on the congeners that present

Treatment such as heating will alter the PCA regions but

will still lie in the same latitude in the PCA plot

Nipah, cassava, sugar cane and pineapple ethanols were

analysed

Fermented rice ethanol (?)

USE OF ETHANOL VS. PROPYLENE

GLYCOL IN FLAVOURS

HALAL IF NO ALCOHOL IS USED IN FLAVORS

The criteria for food products under this category is the same as the Halal

category except the food products here are made with natural or artificial

flavors. The natural and artificial flavors used in these food products may

or may not contain alcohol as a solvent but these flavors are not made with

animal derived ingredients and they are Halal or genuine kosher certified

We may even find the industry to respond to our Islamic dietary needs by

using alternate solvents such as Propylene Glycol. Some Islamic scholars

would not consider a food product Halal if alcohol or if flavor in which

alcohol was used as a solvent even if it was completely evaporated during

processing.

If alcohol is converted to another chemical then it would be Halal but

other Islamic scholars recommend to consume product under this category

because they said that the large or small quantity of this product do not

intoxicate a person.

Source : Muslim Consumer Group

61

A flavor compound is basically is composed

of two parts, a flavor portion and a diluent

portion.

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

62

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

USE OF ALCOHOL IN FLAVOUR

1. As solvent/ Carrier

In diluent portion facilitates the inclusion of several

colouring, flavoring and/or aromatic compound

2. As flavouring agent

In flavour portion to enhance the flavor impression and it's

acceptability particularly the expression of top note

3. In extraction particularly of citrus/ essential oil

Alter the miscibility property from oil to aqueous phase

Source : Ms Maizatulanizah,, Matrix Flavours

63

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

Flavour

Portion

Circle represents flavour

as a whole

Green triangle represents

the flavour portion which

is further divided into Top

Note, Middle/ Spine/

Frame Note and Base/

Foundation note

Blue area represents

diluents

Diluent Portion

Source : Ms Maizatulanizah,, Matrix Flavours

64

Diluent

Top note

Volatile component

Middle /Spine/Frame note

Body component

Base/Foundation note

Solid component

E.g.

Acetaldehyde

Ethyl Alcohol

Ethyl Formate

E.g.

Diacetyl

Ethyl propionate

E.g.

Vanillin

Maltol

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

Source : Ms Maizatulanizah,, Matrix Flavours

ISSUE # 6

Is propylene glycol a suitable alternative to ethanol in flavour

applications?

Propylene glycol can be a suitable alternative to ethanol as a

solvent and carrier for flavour compounds

In the extraction of essential oils, ethanol can result in a wider

selection of flavour notes. This is the area that will matter most

if ethanol is selected as a solvent in the extraction process

CONCLUSION

It is proposed that a scientific approach is adopted assisting

scholars to obtain a benchmark for permissible alcohol contents in

food and drinks

Explore medico-legal principles as possibility in setting benchmark

for alcohol content

Scientific methods can be further developed to be a robust method

for traceability of the source of alcohol in foods and drinks

To resolve and harmonise the alcohol issue is imperative to enable

the industry to expand further