The members of the research group visited and questioned can food makers about the reasons of such an extent use of alcohol, and were told that plain alcohol or ethyl alcohol is widely used as an alternative to artificial preservatives. Compared to them, alcohol preserves not only the physical qualities of the product, but also its taste and smell. It is a makers�� response to the gourmet tastes of the modern consumer.

The group examined 7 types of a total of 150 products. They discovered that only 56% of raw noodles, 82% of soy sauce, 75% of miso, and 38% of candies have alcohol in the list of the ingredients on the packs. None of them specified the amount of it used.

The rest of the products do not even mention it on their packs. In some candies, the amount of alcohol used in one piece equals 3.2 g, or half a glass of beer. No wonder that little children feel drunk after a couple of bites. In the fruit jelly that I mentioned before, Western liquor is used in the quantity of 484 mg.

The current prohibits the use of more than 1% of alcohol in non-alcohol refreshment beverages, however, there is no provision concerning other types of drinks or food, thus, it is left to the discretion of producers.???