Kit Kat Chocolate Containing Ethyl Alcohol

17-3-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu Alaykum
Kitkat which is a nestle product uses ethyl alcohol that does not exceed 1% of the final product. They use the ethyl alcohol as a carrier (to carry flavour). It’s possible that there may be some very small amounts of alcohol left in the final product. The alcohol is not a fermentable or drinking alcohol.
The company says that during the process of creating the chocolate the alcohol is evaporated.
Is this chocolate halal?
Thank you in advance and I await your reply.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, is His slave and Messenger.

We would like to draw your attention to two points.

First: a very large group of contemporary scholars held that alcohol which causes intoxication is classified as Khamr (intoxicant), and accordingly it is impermissible for Muslims to consume it.

Second: not all substances that are classified as alcohol by chemists are intoxicant merely because they fall into this category.

Anyway, if the alcohol is transformed into another non-intoxicating substance during the manufacturing process, it is permissible to use it based on the preponderance of the opinion that a ritual impurity becomes ritually pure through transformation. This is predominantly the case with alcohol added to foods; it is transformed into a different substance.

Moreover, if the alcohol content is very insignificant, as you mentioned in your question, and its direct effect does not manifest on the color, taste, or smell of the product, then there is no sin in consuming it.

In brief, there is no sin in eating candy that contains an insignificant amount of alcohol because they are often processed, and the alcohol is transformed from its original state into a different substance.

For more benefit on alcohol in food, please refer to Fataawa 258754, 327754, 96550, 299059, and 88496.

Allah Knows best.