1A: Food science: Methanol!

Following up to my previous newsletter about methanol in aspartame and fermented drinks, I found this reddit forum thread by distillers. Granted, distillers are biased that methanol concentration in spirits and wine 'is not that bad' but they made some interesting technical observations that likely refute my hypothesis that Louis Pasteur selected 150F as a temperature not just to stabilize the shelf-life of wine, but also (my theory) to help remove the methanol in red wine since methanol boils at about 150F vs 173F of Ethanol.

According to the distillers, methanol when mixed with ethanol and water, is "sticky." Methanol will not separate in distillation since it hydrogen bonds well to the ethanol and water. One needs to add the chemical benzene to help pull out the methanol from the ethanol and water.

The distillers also argue that the amount of methanol in wine and spirits is not significant enough to be dangerous to your health, unless you drank plum or pear brandy every day, which is known for having higher concentrations of methanol.

However, there is interest in reducing methanol produced during fermentation of spirits, including in a thai drink called "noni."

The distillers also note the public concern about methanol in spirits dates back to prohibition, when unscrupulous sellers mixed in or sold pure denatured alcohol, which is very high in methanol. They claim bath-tub gin distillers took the blame...

The question is, how much methanol is safe? I would argue, none. Don't drink alcohol! As stated in this previous newsletter, acetylaldehyde, a breakdown product of ethanol and causes liver cancer and possibly autism when consumed by pregnant women, and there's even acetylaldehyde carcinogen found in spirits.

 
1B: What's new and in production?!?

(i) K9 BROS SALMON, SALMON OIL (limited supply), CHICKEN BREAST JERKY & LIVER of BEEF!
Just finished more K9 Bros treats! Your doggie will thank you!