Can a Sweetener That Converts into Ethanol After Digestion Be Used?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I have a question about FOS (Fructooligosaccharides), a dietary fiber from plants like dates, raisins, and cane sugar.

When consumed, FOS is fermented by gut bacteria in the large intestine. Some bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus fermentum, produce ethanol as a byproduct, increasing intestinal ethanol levels.

My question is whether FOS can be used as a non-caloric sweetener in foods and sweets, provided it doesn’t cause intoxication.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It will be permissible to use FOS in foods and sweets, as the possible production of ethanol takes place in the intestine. This will not be taken into consideration. Thus, it will be permissible.

The prohibited wine (khamr) or ethanol refers to anything consumed specifically to cause intoxication. Ethanol naturally produced inside your body through the digestion of fiber is a normal physiological process.

The incidental production of ethanol in the large intestine results from healthy bacterial activity, not from consuming an intoxicant, so it does not fall under the prohibition of khamr.

Ethanol

In the Hanafi school, the prohibition of wine (khamr) is restricted to the alcohol derived from grapes and dates. Ethanol, a non-wine, chemically produced alcohol used for the purpose of medication, as long as it does not intoxicate, would be permissible.  [Usmani, Takmila al-Fath al-Muslim; Fiqh al-Buyu’]

I would like you to read through the valuable answers and links below. In sha Allah, you will receive guidance and direction.

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I pray this helps answer your question.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.