Subways Chicken Teriyaki contains alcohol?

You —

Now this is something I didn't expect to encounter - when subways states that their meats in the store are halaal, that is precisely what they mean - the stuff on them might not be.

Someone at work mentioned that Subways Chicken Teriyaki ay not be halaal due to the addition of alcohol. A quick google search leads to this webpage with an email from subways that contains the following:

In response to your specific enquiry about the Teriyaki glazing: there is indeed a small dose of Sake used during the production. However, the product was approved for consumption at our Halal locations because the cooking process reduced the alcohol content to a negligible level. Nonetheless, we are in the process of testing a new recipe for Teriyaki chicken that will eliminate the use of alcohol in the process.

Now I did not expect this - Subways had gone out of their ways to prevent non halaal meats, but not extending this to the whole product is really bad IMO.

Forum

Joie de Vivre — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 - 16:37

I thought if it is largely evaporated or only exists as natural traces of fermentation in eg fruit, it is not deemed haraam. Using rice wines to get a better glaze won't make much difference to alcohol content. Any bread traditionally made with non-commercial yeast, and any bread that has had a good rise, will contain some alcohol. Same with a kefir or similar dairy culture, same with vinegar. Fermentation allows for a number of other ingredients that aren't all about the hooch. I have a source: https://islamqa.info/en/184243

You — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 - 20:51

When you get into the small scale chemistry of it all, it gets very complicated as alcohol on small scales is a naturally occurring substance.

I would personally prefer to avoid products where it is added, even if it evaporates away, as I am more comfortable with that.

For other processes where a small amount will be created or exist naturally, that is IMO different and the example used in the Qur'an of not asking too many questions would be one to follow.