Be careful with homemade wine

Homemade fruit wine 'fever'

Photo Internet

Self-studying wine recipes online, Ms. Quynh Anh (Lieu Giai, Hanoi) decided to start a homemade fruit wine business after several successful experiments at home.

The price of each bottle of fruit wine that Ms. Quynh Anh sells is 200,000 VND/1 liter. According to Ms. Quynh Anh, wine is mixed in many different ways depending on the flavor, but mainly includes ingredients such as wine, strong alcohol, sugar, fruit-flavored soft drinks, soda water or Sprite, and fruits such as oranges, lemons, apples, pears, watermelons...

According to Ms. Quynh Anh, fruit-infused wine is very light, easy to drink, aromatic and cool. Therefore, both adults and children can drink it, even drink a lot without affecting their health.

Photo: Internet

"Because it's easy to drink, has skin beautifying effects, and is good for digestion, fruit-infused wine is always in high demand. Customers order a lot, so I have to make a lot to meet their needs. In the last month of the year alone, I sold dozens of liters of wine to serve New Year's Eve to office ladies," said Quynh Anh.

Not only Ms. Quynh Anh, on social networks, the recipe for homemade fruit wine is also shared and implemented by many people. However, there are also opinions that using this type of wine is not good for health, even harmful if using moldy fruit will easily cause poisoning.

Not "toxic" but harmful to health when abused

According to Food Technology expert, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, fruit wine will help reduce the alcohol concentration in wine, so it is suitable for more people, including women and the elderly. However, do not be subjective because of that. Because, in fact, this drink still has a certain alcohol concentration. Seeing wine as delicious, sweet, with a light alcohol content and drinking a lot is equivalent to a high alcohol concentration entering the body.

“When alcohol enters the body, it generates heat, making us feel hot. Alcohol also affects the nervous system and other organs such as the liver, kidneys, etc. So drinking a lot of fruit-mixed wine causes headaches, which is understandable,” Associate Professor Thinh said.

In addition, Mr. Thinh also analyzed that alcohol here is a general concept, but when mixing, what kind of alcohol is used, what type, what origin... is important. For example, what kind of strong alcohol is it? Homemade alcohol or imported alcohol, fake alcohol, domestically produced alcohol... If using homemade alcohol and fake alcohol to mix, in addition to the alcohol component, there is also methanol, which not only causes headaches but can also kill people.

In particular, people with a history of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stomach problems, etc. should not drink this type of water. Because it not only contains alcohol but also has a high sugar concentration. Therefore, drinkers need to consider to avoid affecting their health.

Associate Professor Thinh said that the above mixture, when mixed and left for a while to drink, will turn into vinegar, not alcohol. This drink will not be immediately toxic, but if mixed randomly, drinking it can cause bloating. The nature of drinking alcohol still affects the nervous system, digestive system, liver, and blood.

Regarding the risk of cancer, Associate Professor Thinh said that this fruit-infused wine cannot cause cancer. When fruits come into contact with alcohol, carbonated soft drinks, and sugar, they ferment like vinegar, which does not nourish the body. Drinking it on an empty stomach can affect the stomach or cause digestive disorders.

"To cause cancer, it takes a long time and there must be foreign substances. These foreign substances cause mutations in foreign cells that cause cancer," Associate Professor Thinh affirmed.

Besides, according to Associate Professor Thinh, in science there is no alphatoxin toxin, only aflatoxin toxin that can harm the liver, kidneys and even increase the risk of liver cancer. Associate Professor Thinh emphasized that aflatoxin is only produced from molds of cereal grains and oil seeds such as rice, corn, soybeans, peanuts, sesame, almonds, etc., but not on fruits.

"Mixing wine with pure natural fruit juice or fresh fruit will not have any effect. Because our ancestors often soaked fruit in wine to create nutritious refreshments. However, if wine is mixed with carbonated soft drinks, industrial fruit juice with chemical colorants, or drinks containing caffeine, there is a high risk of reactions and causing illness to the body."

Ms. Dinh Thi Kim Lien, former Director of Nutrition Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi)