Alcoholic beverages common

Properties and handling. Ethyl alcohol is a colorless, flammable liquid (good for flam be ) having a characteristic odor nearly universally recognizable. It is soluble in water (and club soda) in all proportions. Its commercially available as 190 proof (the 95% ethyl alcohol-water azeotrope) and absolute (200 proof). It is frequently denatured to avoid the high tax associated with 190 and 200 proof grades. Methanol and/or sometimes formaldehyde are common denaturants used to prevent consumption as an alcoholic beverage. 

Use solvent, commonly found in beverages Source home, industry, stores, and alcoholic beverages Recommended daily intake none (not essential)... 

Acetaldehyde is a natural product of combustion and photo-oxidation of hydrocarbons commonly found in the atmosphere. It is an important industrial chemical and may be released into the air or in wastewater during its production and use. It has been detected at low levels in drinking-water, surface water, rainwater, effluents, engine exhaust and ambient and indoor air samples. It is also photochemically produced in surface water. Acetaldehyde is an intermediate product in the metabolism of ethanol and sugars and therefore occurs in trace quantities in human blood. It is present in small amounts in all alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine and spirits and in plant juices and essential oils, roasted coffee and tobacco smoke (lira et al., 1985 Hagemeyer, 1991 United States National Library of Medicine, 1998). 

The colonists brought alcoholic beverages with them to America from abroad, and their drinking was so common that it has been said that early America floated on alcohol. Liquid fortification was supplied in stores, on farms, at celebrations of all sorts. Many early colonists began their day with a "dose of spirits" and continued drinking at intervals throughout the day. 

Alcohol problems were tremendous in America s history, although generally they were not considered serious until the nineteenth century. Great temperance crusades culminated in the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages until it was repealed in 1933. Prohibition, as it was commonly known, left a mark that still colors some individuals attitudes on alcohol. Alcohol is now considered America s national drug. -... 

Most alcohol is sold as 95% ethanol-5 % water since it forms an azeotrope at that temperature. To obtain absolute alcohol, a third component, such as benzene, must be added during the distillation. This tertiary azeotrope carries over the water and leaves the pure alcohol behind. Common industrial alcohol is denatured, and additives are purposely included to make it nondrinkable and therefore not subject to the high taxes of the alcoholic beverage industry. 

Caution of Methyl Alcohol (Wood Alcohol) Methanol is commonly added to the rectified spirit, which makes it unfit to drink. Mixing methanol with alcoholic beverages results in methanol poisoning. Methanol is metabolized to formaldehyde and formic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase. High blood levels (750 mg/dL) cause severe poisoning, which leads to blindness and even death. 

Alcohols occur widely in nature. Methanol is also known as wood alcohol because it can be obtained by distilling wood in the absence of air. It is very poisonous and can cause blindness or death if ingested. Ethanol is consumed in alcoholic beverages. Other simple alcohols, such as 2-phenylethanol from roses and menthol from peppermint, are constituents of natural flavors and fragrances. Alcohols are important intermediates in chemical synthesis. They are also commonly used as solvents for various chemical processes. Ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze and in the preparation of polymers such as Dacron. 

Molasses. Molasses is the final effluent obtained in the preparation of sugar by repeated crystallization. The sugar it contains cannot be removed economically. The molasses from cane sugar is most commonly known as blackstrap and that from beet is called beet molasses. Molasses is mainly used for the manufacture of ethyl alcohol (ethanol), yeast, and cattle feed. Another use of sweet molasses is in cooking, spreads for bread, topping for pancakes, and in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. 

There are some common measures of concentration that have found their way into everyday use. The measure of the concentration of ethanol in solution in alcoholic beverages is called proof. Proof is two times the per-... 

Alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse is the most common cause of cirrhosis. Nevertheless, no more than 40-60% of alcoholics contract the disease. Thus genetic factors must also be involved in the development of alcoholic cirrhosis. Alcohol itself can be a facilitative factor or cofactor. Moreover, so-called additives contained in various alcoholic beverages in widely different quantities may also be of greater importance than has hitherto been assmned. (100, 171, 186) (s. pp 528, 532) (s. fig. 28.13, 28.14)... 

The flame ionization detector (FID) is one of the most commonly used detectors in beverage analysis by GC, as it is suitable to most groups of compounds investigated in alcoholic beverages [9]. This occurs because almost all compounds of interest in such samples are able to burn in the flame, forming ions and producing a potential difference measured by a collector electrode. 

The most common route of exposure is by oral ingestion of nitrosamines in food. It has been estimated that the general population consumes approximately 0.1 (ig of nitrosamines per day in their diet. Nitrosamines can be found in foods preserved with nitrates as well as in untreated foods such as mushrooms, alcoholic beverages, smoked fish, bacon. 

In addition to the raw materials commonly used for the production of flavours, such as synthetic flavouring substances, uniform natural flavouring substances (gained by fermentation respectively biotechnological methods), essential oils, absolutes, essences etc., aqueous alcoholic distillation and extraction are processes which are specifically used today for the production of raw materials for the sector of alcoholic beverages, just as they have been for many years in the spirits industry. 

The opposite must be said in the case of alcoholic beverages. Experimental results did not indicate that they might play a role in the potentiation of cancer risk. This notion was somehow supported by the epidemiological studies carried out in France, which lead to the discovery of the so-called French paradox. Contrary to the common belief among this country s population, despite high alcohol intake, the frequency of heart failures and possibly also tumor incidence is lower than that in other states. Currently, it is postulated that antioxidant substances present in colored alcoholic beverages and particularly abundant in red wine (Figure 14.1) offer such protection. 

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