[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by katex

Perhaps Willow may wish to step in with this one too .. sorry Willow not getting at your beliefs, just genuine question ?

There's a lot covered in this topic so I'll just start off by stating the LDS standpoint which is to avoid the consuming of alcohol. We are actually told that alcohol is for the washing of the body (for anti-bacterial cleanliness type of thing) so we wouldn't have a problem with alcohol wipes etc.

I don't actually know where muslims stand on this but I do know there are halal perfumes which contain no alcohol but are based on essential oils. I actually personally prefer them because instead of evaporating away they are longer lasting and seem to have richer fragrances. However, I do know one Saudi Arabian perfume house, Ajmal, which makes at least one alcohol based Eau de Parfum which is used by many Arab muslim women so it can't be taboo over there. I would put that in the same class as alcohol wipes and hand washes. Mouth washes, toothpastes etc are a little bit different because you could be swallowing some so I would prefer to avoid them. However (Leslie ) if I did use one without knowing it contained alcohol I wouldn't throw up my hands in horror and fear eternal damnation.

I know there is very little alcohol in shandy and that it's nigh on impossible to get drunk from it, but I wouldn't drink it because it does contain alcohol. I choose non-alcoholic drinks.

I know members of our Church who would happily cook with wine because the alcohol is theoretically burned off - and so having the flaming brandy on the Christmas pud is acceptable but not something I do because a, I don't like Christmas pud and b, I'd be frightened of setting the house on fire! However the people who happily do that would not have a brandy sauce or a white wine sauce because the alcohol would still be present. So it's not a case of it being contaminated by having come into contact with alcohol. It's a case of if there is any still there.

And so to the subject of the Walkers' crisps. Personally, if I have understood the Walkers' statement correctly and the alcohol is used as a means of extracting flavour which is used on the crisps, I would see that in the same context at the Christmas pud where the brandy is burned off. It wouldn't make me avoid quavers for fear of ingesting alcohol.

However, having said that, I do think that we have a right to know what is in our food. If they had used peanuts in order to extract a flavour they would have had to state that on the packet because of the danger of peanut allergies, if the product contains a source of phenylalanine they have to say so, so why can't they simply state that alcohol is used in the manufacturing process? That way people could make an informed choice and not feel they have been misled.

This isn't a case of people telling us how to live our lives or making the rules, just a case of asking for the rules to be followed which already exist and which would be sufficient for their needs. It's not as if they are clamouring for Walkers' crisps to be banned or demanding that no-one else in the country should consume alcohol. They are simply asking to be given the information so they can choose.