Alcohol-free halal vanilla

A manufacturer is targeting the halal market with its alcohol-free vanilla extract.

Vanillabazaar works with family-run farms in Madagascar to manufacture and import vanilla products to the UK.

The firm says traditional vanilla extracts are always brown because they have been extracted by using alcohol. The alcohol is then burnt off and put into a base.

However, the extract is never completely free from alcohol.

"It is impossible to remove all of the alcohol," says Sakina Jodiyawall, director of Vanillabazaar. "The percentage of alcohol remaining takes the product over the Halal Food Authority's permissible limit."

Purity Madagascan Vanilla Extract is clear because it has been extracted by passing cooled gases through vanilla to extract its compounds. The gas then evaporates leaving a pure extract. Vanillabazaar says this gives the final product a fuller flavour that is closer to the original pod's flavour.

Contact: Vanillabazaar