Do we have to state alcohol in our label or if it's <1,2% we don't have to declare it?

Hello, 

We are launching a new product with an ingredient which states alcohol in its label. Apparently is not a proper ingredient but alcohol is generated because of the fermentation on the process. 

Do we have to state alcohol in our label or if it's <1,2% we don't have to declare it?

Thank you very much for your time and advice

Welcome to the forum :welcome:

There are two potential elements to alcohol labelling here.

The 1.2% threshold applies to alcoholic drinks - in accordance with Article 9(1)(k) of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, these are required to include an indication of the alcohol content, as detailed in Annex XII of the same regulation. This is separate to any considerations relating to the ingredient list, as these products are exempt from the requirement for an ingredients list. If you're making some sort of composite food product with an ABV below 1.2% then this requirement will almost certainly not apply.

Separately there is the question of whether alcohol should be declared as a component of a (compound?) ingredient in your ingredients list. This is very much going to come down to the specifics of the component in question. There could be legitimate exemptions where, for example, the alcohol is an inherent part of an ingredient with a defined legal name - for example, if you use whisky in a filling for a chocolate, I suspect it would be acceptable to simply declare it as whisky, rather than having to provide a component breakdown, particularly given that alcohol itself isn't actually an ingredient of the whisky.

Here in the Netherlands, there was a recall of a dessert that had alcohol in it which wasn't declared.

The problem was that the product was consumed by children.

It depends on which legislation you are following, but I would argue that it is best to include a warning on the label that mentions the alcohol percentage and that the product is not suitable for children, even if you may not be legally required to do so based on the letter of the law.

Is the fermentation controlled so it never exceeds a certain level? 

I have a similar question. We are a salsa and sauce company in New Mexico. We are moving forward with a Mezcal Salsa. Wondering if anyone has insight to the legal parameters involved. The percentage before processing is < 0.5% and acording to USDA "Alcohol Burn-Off Chart", after a 15 minute cook/simmer the retention is 40% of the original percentage. So, in my case <0.2%.

I know there are several salsas, sauces, etc. out there, but when I research allowable alcohol content in food, all I get is beverages like kombucha.

Any help would be appreciated.

We used to have Vanilla Extract as an ingredient in one of our products. That extract contained alcohol - but we never declared it on the label, and I don't recall any Canadian regulation requiring that. Though, Halal regulations don't allow alcohol in halal products.