A juicy ball of rum contains alcohol, that’s for sure. However, it is less well known that a residual amount of alcohol can also be hidden in a piece of cake. Small amounts of alcohol can also be found in fruit juices. There are many reasons for this: the fruit ferments to juice before processing – and thus brings with it an alcohol content.
It’s different with cake. Industrially produced ready-made cakes from the supermarket shelf intentionally contain alcohol as a preservative. The problem: this does not have to be stated on the packaging. “Small amounts of alcohol, which were used to dissolve and preserve fruit extracts and flavors, do not have to appear on the label,” he writes Bavarian State Ministry for Consumer Protection. “This also applies to composite alcoholic ingredients that are less than 2 percent in the end product.”
Added alcohol
Two percent of the end product is not that little: a shandy has an average of 2.5 percent alcohol. If you want to be on the safe side, ask in restaurants or retail outlets whether they contain alcohol. In our photo series we list products that could be questionable.
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