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

LOCAL FERMENTED PRODUCTS

Vinegar Nipah vinegar
Fermented palm sap
Tapai
Rice wine (tuak)
Soy sauce
Budu
Cincalok
Tempoyak

Belacan
Fermented milk 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

JABIR IBN HAYYAN

Ibn Hayyan was

the first person to

discover alcohol
from distillation

of wine

Kitab Ikhraj Ma Fi AlQuwwa Ila Al-fi`l

0721 0815 A.D.

MUHAMMAD IBN
ZAKARIYA AR-RAZI
Ar-Razi was the
first person to
introduce the use
of alcohol (Al-

Kuhl) for medical

purposes

0850 0932 A.D.

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

% ALCOHOL PERMITTED IN FOODS

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

No

ALCOHOL
CONTENT IN
FOODS
(JAKIM, 2006)

* Not food

Name of Samples

Alcohol Content (% v/v)

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

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

Berita Minggu 17 Feb 2008

ISSUE

COOKING WINE

Royal Chef

Shao Xing

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%

DRINKS WITH KHAMR

Shandy = Beer + Lemon Juice

Alcohol content = 0.5% v/v

Alcoholic Energy Drink = Beer Added

Alcohol content = 6 -10 % v/v

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)

WIDMARKS FORMULA

Wr( C t + t)
N=
0.82(fl.oz. EtOH/drink)
Where:

N = Number of drinks
W = Body weight in ounces
r = Widmark rho (L/kg)
Ct = BAC at time t (kg/L)
= Elimination rate (Kg/L/hr)
t = Time in hours from first drink
0.82 = Density of ethanol (oz./fl.oz.)

INTOXICATION CHART

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

APPLICATION OF WIDMARKs FORMULA

BAC depends on the rate of food intake.

BAC is 2 times higher in an empty stomach

VOLUME (ml) CONSUMED IN 1 HOUR BEFORE

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

100000

ASSUMPTIONS
Gender = Female

Weight = 55kg

10000

Volume
(ml)

1000

Time = 1 hr
100

10
0.01

0.05

0.1

0.5

Alcohol Content (%)

* Based on Widmarks 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

Possible (/)/Not
possible (/)

2.0

1350

Possible (/)

Volume of one glass (mug) = 270 ml

POTENCY FOR INTOXICATION OF VARIOUS ALIPHATIC ALCOHOLS

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

of Pharmacology,133(5): 651658.

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)

HADITH
(SAYING OF THE PROPHET)

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.

FERMENTATION OF DATES (NABIDH)

Nabidh from Fresh Dates

Nabidh from Dried dates

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETER

HEADSPACE ANALYSER (GC-MS-HS)

ALCOHOL CONTENT IN FERMENTED DATES

DAY
(DRIED DATES)

Amount of
Ethanol (%)

Amount of
Methanol (%)

Total
Alcohol
(%)

DAY
(FRESH DATES)

Amount of
Ethanol (%)

Amount of Methanol
(%)

Total Alcohol
(%)

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.009

0.000

0.009

0.006

0.000

0.006

0.010

0.003

0.013

0.033

0.001

0.034

0.016

0.002

0.018

0.061

0.003

0.064

0.036

0.004

0.040

0.086

0.004

0.090

0.048

0.004

0.051

0.131

0.003

0.134

0.16
0.14

Fresh Dates sample

0.12
0.10

% Alcohol

Dry Dates Sample

0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0.00
0

Days

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
Samples

Alcohol content (% v/v)

0.8

1.0

0.8

1.6

Nurul 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

ETHANOL
CONTENT
(%)

0.03

0.77

5.29

6.03

5.72

6.04

7
6

Ethanol Content (%)

DAYS OF
FERMENTATION

5
4
3

Ethanol

2
1

5.40

5.87

5.70

14

6.12

0
0

10

Days of Fermentation

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

15

COMPOUNDS IN FERMENTED NIPAH SAP

DAYS

COMPOUNDS

Formic
acid,
ethyl
ester

Ethyl
acetate

Ethanol

1-propanol

2-methyl1propanol

3-methyl1-butanol

Propanoic
acid

Acetic
acid

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

SUCROSE
CELLULOSE

C OF RED AND WHITE WINES

13

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

PCA PLOT OF ETHANOLS FROM DIFFERENT BOTANICAL SOURCE

Nipah ethanol
ne

ne
ne

pe3
pe3
pe3
pe2
pe2

Pineapple ethanol
pe1
pe1
pe1

pe2

se2se2
se3
se1
se1
se2

Sugarcane ethanol

ce

ce

ce

Cassava ethanol

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

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

A flavor compound is basically is composed

of two parts, a flavor portion and a diluent
portion.

61

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

62

FLAVOUR COMPONENT
Circle represents flavour
as a whole
Green triangle represents

the flavour portion which

Diluent Portion

is further divided into Top

Flavour
Portion

Note, Middle/ Spine/

Frame Note and Base/

Foundation note
Blue area represents

diluents
Source : Ms Maizatulanizah,, Matrix Flavours

63

FLAVOUR COMPONENT

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

Diluent
Source : Ms Maizatulanizah,, Matrix Flavours

64

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