Determination of methanol content in white wine circulated in Nam Dinh city

Abstract

      In the first months of 2017, there were many cases of spirit poisoning with methanol which caused serious consequences, which has given the alert  to the manufacture and supply of spirit in our country. In our study, we identified the content of methanol in white wine being sold in Nam Dinh city. The study was conducted from May to October of 2017 and 245 white wine samples were selected at random. The results showed that 36 in 245 white wine samples contained methanol (about 14.69 percent). There were 7 in 36 samples whose contents of methanol are relatively high. There are two samples (MS-05: methanol content is 1.0183; MS-17: methanol content is 1.0025) which exceeded TCVN 9637 - 7: 2013 ISO 1388 - 7  (methanol content is 1.000). The reason why white wine contained methanol was that the process of fermentation and distillation of molasses residue mixing wood residue made the meterial be broken up, which produced MeOH, and some manufacturers who wanted to run after profits produced wine from alcohol. Our study will provide the administrators with more information to enhance the method of ensuring food safety and prevent spirit poisoning containing methanol.