No alcohol in Sobia, traditional Ramadan drink, says Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority said on Saturday it is not true that sobia, a local refreshment drink prepared especially for Ramadan, contains ethyl alcohol or is full of fungi.

“However, the small percentage of ethanol found in the drink, made from barley, brown bread, cinnamon, sugar, and cardamom, is the result of natural chemical reactions and may lack health conditions when it is bought from street vendors,” Saudi FDS said on its twitter account.

Brown bread and barley is soaked in a large pot for a whole day with enough water to cover it. Then the mixture is boiled, adding some cinnamon and cardamom and leave it soaked for another day.

After that, the mixture is filtered, separating the water from the bread and adding sugar to it. Some food colour may be added.

The drink is served cold and ice can be added as needed.

Many Saudis make profit from selling Sobia in the streets. Locals, as young as 12 and as old as 70 years old, sell Sobia during Ramadan. They put their Sobia in plastic bags and sell it.

Any ethanol produced by anaerobic fermentation and ranging between 1 and 15% is non-Halal or forbidden, whereas ethanol produced by natural fermentation and less than 1% is considered as preserving agent and is Halal or allowed.

Any ethanol solution higher than 15% is treated as a toxic solution but still could be used in industries, meanwhile, ethanol solution prepared by dilution from absolute or denatured ethanol is allowed for industrial used but toxic for human consumption.

However, any concentration varied from 0.1 to 100% prepared with the intention to be used as a beverage drink is non-Halal.