Brazilian spirit vinegar, likely from sugarcane ethanol
New Zealand’s DYC vinegar which is from ethanol–from milk whey!
South Africa’s Safari brand vinegar from distilled malt liquor (malt vinegar ingredient)
Heinz’s famous white vinegar from grain ethanol
Note: see our new post on making white distilled vinegar here
What is white distilled vinegar?? There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about what white distilled vinegar is, what it means to have “organic” white distilled vinegar, etc. Here I will try to explain in detail and clear up any misconceptions.
First, a bit of history. White distilled vinegar, known outside the US and UK as “spirit vinegar” or “alcohol vinegar”, originated around the 1860s, most likely in Germany. With the advent of a new manufacturing process (the quick process) for vinegar that allowed it to be industrialized, options expanded beyond the traditional slow fermented vinegar from grape wine or hard cider. What was discovered was that distilled spirits, from the cheapest source possible, could make a relatively bland vinegar that could be used for basic uses, cleaning, sauces, and importantly, for the new industries of pickling and canning.
Spirit vinegar used basically whatever was cheaper in the country where it was made. The Germans used alcohol from fermented potatoes, aka watered down vodka. The French used sugar beets, the British used low quality malt vinegar, the Kiwis in New Zealand settled on milk whey, and in the USA, spirit vinegar was made from alcohol distilled from fermented molasses. That is why we Americans call White vinegar “distilled”. In short, these gave you nearly pure ethanol and this was made into cheap vinegar. In the process it destroyed much of the traditional vinegar makers, particularly in Europe where the city of Orléans went from about 200 traditional wine vinegar makers to 17 in a 100 year period up to World War I. Granted, other economic and political realities were at play here but spirit vinegar was the knockout punch.
As I stated before, the distillation of fermented molasses into a relatively clear alcohol called “low wine” is why Americans call spirit vinegar “distilled vinegar”. However, nowadays white distilled vinegar is not distilled in any part of its process. What happened in the post World War II period was the introduction of cheap ethanol made directly from ethylene that could be extracted from natural gas. This process, known as the Wacker Process, gave the vinegar industry ethanol cheaper than they could get from molasses and without the expensive distillation equipment that one would need. From this point on, white distilled vinegar, at least in the USA, would be made directly from ethanol.
US FDA regulations require any vinegar for human consumption has to be fermented naturally, by bacteria, so synthetic acetic acid was never used for white vinegar (legally). This is not the case in countries like Russia or India where industrially produced acetic acid using non-biological reactions can be sold as vinegar. However, the ethanol can come from any source as long as it is not tainted and is fermented naturally to white distilled vinegar. As manufacturers we also are not mandated to disclose the source of the ethanol.
Pure ethanol does not have enough nutrients for the bacteria to thrive so nutrients, such as phosphates or yeast extract, are added to get the fermentation going. As time went on, different sources of ethanol became available that allowed one to juggle your options to find the cheapest source to use. Ethylene was a favorite source but at times corn ethanol or sugar cane ethanol from Brazil have been cheaper options to use. In the current environment, many vinegar plants in the USA are using ethanol imported from France made from sugar beets.
So a lot of people get worried when they hear vinegar made from “natural gas”. In fact, some brands (I think Heinz is one) have white distilled vinegar only made from plant based ethanol as a marketing point. Fleischmann’s also sells organic white distilled vinegar that is made from ethanol from organic corn. So what is the point and what matters?
To be honest–and I am not making a marketing pitch since Supreme Vinegar does not manufacture white distilled vinegar–there is not a huge known difference depending on the source. The ethanol that is purchased usually has the same specifications – 190 proof (95%) ethanol with the rest being mainly water and a small amount of ethyl acetate. Ethyl acetate is harmless and is a natural product of the vinegar fermentation process anyway. Now there can possibly be flavor chemicals in plant based ethanol (called esters) that may impart a bit of improved taste and aroma but there should not be any compounds that will cause health issues. If there are, there is a contamination issue that the refiner should not have if they meet spec. DYC Vinegars in New Zealand let’s you know their vinegar ultimately is from a milk product though I don’t know if those with allergies or lactose intolerance need to care. The yeast should have handled the lactose and the distillation of the ethanol should have removed the proteins.
That being said, there aren’t any studies really that analyze distilled white vinegar from different sources to determine the difference. Most studies are concerned with finding out if manufacturers surreptitiously sneak in industrially produced glacial (pure) acetic acid into food vinegar. There are various ways to detect this such as Carbon 14 ratios, etc. that I won’t go into detail on here. Also, realize that if you buy imported vinegar, particularly not from the US, Canada, or Western Europe, there is a risk that manufacturers use industrial acetic acid, regulations or not, to cut cost. This has been an issue in the past in places such as parts of Latin America, China, and Africa. You shouldn’t assume the vinegars are bad, it is just another heads up about food product safety.
Finally, depending on your use of white distilled vinegar, read the label carefully before purchasing. Standard vinegar strength, measured in acidity, is 5%. This is also the recommend minimum for canning. There are a lot of private label “budget” brands out there that look too good to be true until you read the label carefully and they are 4% acidity. The legal minimum in the US is 4% so these are the weakest vinegars you can legally buy. They may be ok for some cooking but for cleaning they will not work as well, will definitely not kill weeds effectively, and are risky to use for canning.
If you want to have grain based white distilled vinegar, Heinz makes theirs only with ethanol from grain. It sells for a bit of a premium but it is your best option in this respect. Fleischmann’s vinegar makes organic white distilled vinegar in the 16 oz. size only. It has spotty distribution though so it can be hard to find. The two largest manufacturers–Fleischmann’s Vinegar and Mizkan Americas–sell mostly private label but a lot of their ethanol is likely from sugar beets right now. However, the ultra-low natural gas prices recently may make ethylene attractive again.
43 Comments on “White distilled vinegar – ingredients explained”
Your article on Spirit vinegar is the most informative i found on the web. Thanks you.
I have a question does distilled vinegar/spirit vinegar contain traces of alcohol/ethanol once its in the bottle or has all alcohol turned into vinegar in the manufacturing process.
I am asking this question because i have read on a few websites that alcohol is added in the manufacturing process to give it a much more acidic taste – this is for spirit/white vinegar in general – iam from the UK.
I have been trying to find this information for a while and have not managed to do so – your research/article is by far the most useful on the web _ many thanks
Hi Mitch, typically when vinegar manufacturers ferment vinegar, we leave 0.3-0.5% alcohol by volume as residual. We try not to ferment all the alcohol because when vinegar ages, the alcohol reacts with acetic acid (a process called esterification that forms ethyl acetate) to form flavor and aroma compounds that make the vinegar taste less sharp and have better flavor. This is why naturally fermented spirit vinegar tastes better than artificially produced raw 4% or 5% acetic acid. The latter can’t be legally sold as vinegar in most countries but does exist in the developing world.
I have never heard of vinegar manufacturers adding alcohol at the end, it would be more efficient to just have a residual. In any case, the alcohol would be added to give it a less acidic taste, not more. I hope this helps.
Thank-you for the information!. I have been curious how vinegar is made. I use it for cleaning (most regularly my hummingbird feeder between refills) and for some cooking.. i think i will switch to Heinz or Braggs, based on your info.
By the way, am saving this site for future reference! Who’d have thought there could be so much to learn and know!
Great article. The reason I found it is I’m trying to recreate a pickle recipe from 1870-1930 in Virginia. Your article makes me think it was most likely a molasses based spirit vinegar rather than a cider or corn based one. Would that be an accurate guess?
The vast majority of the spirit vinegar came from molasses fermented to alcohol and then distilled to a bland rum of about 10% ABV. This was especially true once railroads connected the South to the rest of the country so the molasses could be shipped cheaply. However, not everyone used molasses and it depended on the cost and type of equipment one had. Some used beet sugar (though this was rare) and others used a corn based beer (85% corn, 10% rye, 5% malted barley) that was distilled to make spirit vinegar. This latter one was often termed corn vinegar and was made in parts of the South like Texas up until the 1980s.
I would think you would be fine either way. Virginia vinegar makers could have used either. Let me know if this helps.
I have some distilled white vinegar that has been sitting on the shelf for some time. I opened it to use Andy it smells like nail polish remover. What could cause this and is it safe to use? I havent been able to find much about it. Thanks!
This smell is a compound called acetaldehyde. It is an intermediate chemical in the process where bacteria convert alcohol to vinegar. What likely happened is there were bacteria in the vinegar that tried converting residual alcohol but since the bottle was closed, they were limited for air and could not complete fermentation. I would try leaving it slightly open for a couple of days to see what that does. It is not harmful but could affect flavor if it is used for cooking instead of cleaning.
Thank you for all this great information. I am corn sensitive, and as such, I’ve been avoiding any products that contain white vinegar, presuming they are likely corn derived.
Can you recommend a good mild vinegar for pickling that is not derived from corn?
Thanks again,
Maggie
Hi Maggie, guaranteeing a vinegar isn’t coming from corn ethanol is hard. The good news is that corn ethanol is relatively expensive for a feedstock so most use imported sugar beet alcohol from France or sugar cane alcohol from Brazil. Corn vinegar (as vinegar from corn syrup or corn alcohol was once called) has declined in popularity in the US. Heinz is probably the biggest risk for corn based vinegar but Fleischmann’s is now owned by a corn ethanol company so they may use it.
In addition, private label vinegars at the store can come from multiple companies and these could use different sources of ethanol.
Distilled corn alcohol probably has most allergens taken out in distillation and vinegar fermentation so I don’t think the risk is large but if you want to use white distilled vinegar Four Monks from Mizkan most likely doesn’t have corn ethanol. It can be hard to find though I think it is on Amazon and some other sites. I hope this helps.
Laura here, thought it was made from wheat and would avoid it..as I’m wheat sensitive,and possibly corn,but a corn fan..
So certain things I would use apple cider vinegar..
I don’t think any distilled white vinegar in the US is made from wheat. If not corn, it is sugar beet or cane sugar ethanol. The distillation of the alcohol removes most protein and glutens in any case. Malt vinegar may contain wheat though it is usually made with barley and corn.
My child reacts (diar/throwup) to gmo corn found in vinegar by itself or in mustard & other food products. Are there any brands found in USA import or domestic of true non-gmo vinegars?
Finding a distilled white vinegar that is guaranteed to not use corn is hard, since ultimate ingredients aren’t required by disclosure guidelines. My first question is are you sure it is only GMO corn and not corn in general? If you are sure (and have confirmed by tests) that it is only GMO corn, there are organic white distilled vinegars sold by Spectrum Naturals and Fleischmann’s. They are on Amazon. However, I know for a fact that they use non-GMO corn as a source for the distilled alcohol to make vinegar.
I would say vinegars from France would be a good bet, look up the Maille brand of vinegars and mustards (though make sure they are French, not domestic or Canada made with the same label), Melfor’s honey vinegars, or the Martin Pouret brand of wine vinegar (some of the best out there). You won’t get distilled white vinegar imported here because transport costs are too high but you can get wine vinegar. They are available on Amazon but if you want to buy much cheaper in wholesale case quantities, contact French Feast (www.frenchfeast.com). If you can get white vinegar from France (vinaigre d’alcool) it is almost always made from sugar beets.
On a final note, you may want to confirm it is the non-GMO corn causing the issue. The distilled white vinegar loses most proteins and other allergy causing compounds when the alcohol is distilled before vinegar fermentation. There are a few nutrient additives in vinegar fermentation that may contain GMO grain/corn but the amounts are relatively small. Have you seen if there is an acetic acid allergy (for example with apple cider or wine vinegar)?
I just came to this website looking for answers. If the white distilled white vinegar is GMO and so it would be sprayed with Roundup Ready with Glyphosate. Would the Glyphosate still be in after the distillation process? I was using regular for many years, but went to usda organic because of the Roundup ready with Glyphosate being sprayed on grains.
A very difficult question since many brands source their ethanol from different places. In the past few years some of the larger private label manufacturers have received a lot of ethanol from Europe or Brazil which I am unsure of the regulations regarding GMO and Glyphosate. Others use domestic corn ethanol which is probably GMO.
To be frank, I don’t know how much Glyphosate remains after distillation. I would stay with organic if you are concerned.
I also get sick from GMO anything. Tears my stomach up and has some minor hormonal effects. But you at the same time the distillation process would make sense as far as reducing any of the possible allergens. Also be aware beet sugar is GMO as is some cane sugars now. Even artificial or natural flavorings can contain GMO ingredients.
Hi!
I have recently been diagnosed with an allergy to bakers and brewers yeast. Naturally nothing fermented for me and this includes vinegar. I have found much controversy on whether distilled vinegar is safe. I have read that yeast is broken down during the process. Is this true? Can I safely consume distilled white vinegar?
I cannot give exact medical advice so I would ask your physician or health care provider.
That being said, distilled white vinegar is typically made from a distilled ethanol that is far removed from yeast if there ever was any at all. The distillation process kills yeast and yeast particles cannot typically travel in water or alcohol vapor in a distillation column.
Thank You Dearly
I am looking for some spirit vinegar 12% for a pickled herring recipe I received. Can you point me toward a source? Or brand?
Essig-essenz, an imported German brand commonly sold on Amazon or at German/East European ethnic groceries, is 25% acidity. Dilute that 1:1 with water and you will be set. Be sure to wear latex/nitrile/gloves and eye protection, preferably chemical styles safety gogles, during mixing. Even the fumes can be relatively irritating and if you get it in your eye or nose it will BURN.
Can natural vinegar be made from corn syrup by diluting and fermenting it first and then use the fermented solution with ethanol in it to make natural vinegar? I believe this is how cider vinegar, grape vinegar and malt vinegar are made.
Thanks
Victor
Hi diluted corn syrup fermented to alcohol and then vinegar is known as corn vinegar here in the USA. It is not used directly to make apple cider or grape wine vinegar. By US law apple cider vinegar and wine vinegar must come from the fermented juices of apples and grapes respectively.
However, there is a product sold here called apple cider flavored vinegar. This is typically corn vinegar or regular white distilled vinegar mixed with apple flavoring.
Reginald, you are amazing! Thank you for all this VERY insightful information!
I have distilled 70% alcohol made from apple juice and brown sugar can I use this to make white vinegar if so will the white wine mother of vinegar work or do I need something more Industrial
You can use it as long as the final ABV is diluted below 10%. You will need a mother (any flavor will do) but you cannot make distilled white vinegar using the regular sit-and-wait process for making vinegar. I have been meaning to write a blog post on this but you must use the semi-quick (Boerhaave) method outlined in this blog post but also in this Reddit post. Also, for distilled white vinegar making you must add external nutrients since the alcohol is not enough. 1/4 tsp of dry malt extract or yeast extract per gallon of diluted alcohol should do the trick. Let us know how it turns out.
I finally did a post on making white distilled vinegar. See it here.
I like this article thanks a lot.
I have been looking forward to get some details about white vinegar beacuse I want to use it for a project. How can I get a white vinegar with 20% acidity.
Please if you have any clue on how to poduce a white vinegar with 20% acidity, inbox me with
08080708381
What country do you live in? Essig Essenz is a German brand available in many countries that is 25% acidity. There are also many 30% acidity vinegars for weed control available as well.
Very informative, thank you.
Still wondering what is grain vinegar made from.
“Grain vinegar” isn’t a class of vinegar per se. Grains, used in connotation with vinegar, is a measure of acid strength. In the US 50 grain is 5%, 100 grain is 10%, etc. Most vinegar is made from ethanol from sugar beets (France), sugar cane (South America) and sometimes corn (USA).
Every article I’ve found says vinegar is “made from grain”, without any mention of which grain! Is it corn? Is it wheat? Is it rye? Is it rice? Grain is not a specific ingredient, it is an entire category of foods!
Good point, but honestly, these days vinegar is rarely made from grain except for malt vinegar. The biggest exception is organic white distilled vinegar which is usually from organic corn ethanol though more of it is being made from organic sugar ethanol from South America. Malt vinegar is made primarily from malted barley and corn in the USA.
I just had a couple questions please. In the UK we have two different vinegars that are very similar to each other.
Firstly there is Spirit Vinegar which is always 5% Acidity and (at least in the UK) always made out of Sugar Beet derived alcohol. The ingredients are always “Water 95% & Spirit Vinegar 5%”. This is obviously the Vinegar you are talking about in this article.
Secondly there is Non Brewed Condiment which is again always 5% Acidity but it can not legally be called Vinegar though. The ingredients are always “Water 95% & Acetic Acid (E260) 5%”. I am not too sure what the Acetic Acid (E260) is from but i have heard that it could be made of Petroleum and stuff like that.
These two vinegar both look exactly the same and smell exactly the same and taste exactly the same so i was just wondering can the two but used interchangeably or not? I am mainly talking about for food use so i was just wondering if one of them is better than the other? Is any of these two better for different things or would you say they both do the same exact job? Also would you say that the Spirit Vinegar is healthier than the Non Brewed Condiment is or does it not make much difference?
Also in all of our supermarkets there is also “Barley Malt Vinegar” and “Distilled Barley Malt Vinegar” which are both sold. The “Barley Malt Vinegar” is a very dark black colour while the “Distilled Barley Malt Vinegar” is a clear liquid like Spirit Vinegar and Non Brewed Condiment are.
I was just wondering what is the difference between the “Barley Malt Vinegar” and “Distilled Barley Malt Vinegar” and would i be correct to presume that “Distilled Barley Malt Vinegar” is basically the same exact thing as Spirit Vinegar but is made from Barley Malt instead of Sugar Beet derived alcohol? Or is the “Distilled Barley Malt Vinegar” something different?
Thank you for any information. Keep up the great work with your website. It is such a useful site for information about vinegars
Hi, thanks for your comment. I can summarize the answers below:
1. The acetic acid in the non-brewed condiment is made from chemical, not fermentation processes and is much cheaper. E260 is just the general chemical designation for acetic acid. These days, the most common production method for acetic acid uses methanol and carbon monoxide along with a metal catalyst (rhodium or iridium). Depending on the catalyst, the process is called the Monsanto Process or the Cativa Process. Some of this mass produced acetic acid is purified to meet food grade standards and sold to non-brewed condiment manufacturers at high strength (80-100% acetic acid) which is then diluted to 4-8% and has colorings and flavorings added to make non-brewed condiment.
2. Some people state spirit vinegar was once made by petroleum. This is not strictly true, though a petrochemical derivative, ethylene, was used as a source for the pure ethanol used to ferment spirit vinegar for much of the 20th century. Historically (roughly post WWII to the 1980s) a lot of ethanol was produced from ethylene (not petroleum as frequently stated) in a process called the Wacker Process. Ethylene was usually a byproduct of natural gas extraction though other petrochemical processes can make it as well I believe. This ethanol was sold in various grades to vinegar manufacturers who used it to manufacture spirit vinegar/distilled white vinegar. As you state, these days the most common sources of ethanol for spirit vinegar are sugar beet ethanol (Europe) or sugar cane ethanol (Americas).
3. As far as recipes go, non-brewed condiment can be used interchangeably with spirit vinegar/white distilled vinegar. Spirit vinegar has additional flavor compounds that you get in biological fermentation but as far as vinegars go, white spirit vinegars aren’t really that flavorful so non-brewed condiment is fine as a substitute as long as the acidity is the same. I would not say regular spirit vinegar is significantly more healthy though it has few compounds (maybe some flavor esters and antioxidants in small quantities) besides acetic acid and water.
4. Distilled barley malt vinegar is, as you guessed, made from distilled alcohol derived from the malted barley ale used to make malt vinegar. It is basically spirit vinegar just from a different source and should be used like other spirit vinegars.
I am someone who is always interested in what my food is made from and what it comes from so this is a very interesting post. I think most people see “Spirit Vinegar” on the ingredients of products or find “Spirit Vinegar” bottles in shops but most people have no clue what exactly it comes from. I am surprised that there is no labelling laws in any countries that require them to be more specific about what the “Spirit Vinegar” is made from. Thank you for writing this detailed article.
I recently contacted 14 brands of Spirit Vinegar that i have found in the UK (i live in the UK so it will probably vary in the USA and other countries) and researched in to what exactly the Spirit Vinegar was made from (as none of them say on the bottle) and what i found after asking them all was:
• 1 brand said they made it from Cassava (Tapioca)
• 1 brand said they made it from Corn (Maize)
• 1 brand said they made it from Rice
• 1 brand said they made it from Sugar Cane
• 10 brands said they made it from Sugar Beet
I think it depends on what country it is made in. As all 10 that were made from Sugar Beet were either made in the UK or another European country. Where as the ones that were made with the other ingredients had all came from other countries further away. So i guess it is whatever crop is cheapest to grow in the country that it is made.
Very surprised to see New Zealand has Spirit Vinegar made from Dairy though! I never would of though that was possible to make any sort of vinegar from Dairy products! You learn something new every day! New Zealand is known for their Sheep but not really known for Cows so i would of thought that using other crops would be cheaper!
A question which i do have though is can you notice any difference between different Spirit Vinegar made using different ingredients? Like if you compared all of these, Cassava (Tapioca), Corn (Maize), Rice, Sugar Beet, Sugar Cane, versions of Spirit Vinegar would you be able to notice any differences at all? Or would you say that once they are made in to Spirit Vinegar they are all fully identical to each other? I would be interested to know?
Hi, thanks for your email! You may be able to detect a slight flavor difference across spirit vinegars but the distillation is usually so thorough that most flavor compounds don’t make it. You are correct about the sources though. Cheap sugar beet alcohol from France is what feeds a lot of EU producers. US producers right now often use sugar cane ethanol from South America or more rarely, corn ethanol.
Hi! THANK YOU for this article!! This is exactly the detailed level of information I have been searching for! I was wondering if you could speak to the purification process that is used to take non-brewed acetic acid to a food-grade level? I am examining the distinctions between the typical USA distilled white vinegar used in food preservation, and the concentrated cleaning vinegars (20%-45% varieties) available. It’s clear that one is food-grade and the concentrate is not, and I presume that the concentrate is using synthetic acetic acid, but mostly it all seems to come down to the purification process, but I have not yet found any description of what the process is, and what substances are being removed, that might be harmful for human consumption. I’m hoping that you can help clarify this for me. THANK YOU!
Hi Ms. Roberts. Food grade vinegar can be bought/made up to 30%. Regular food grade vinegar is concentrated via freezing into crystals and then centrifuging to concentrate the heavier acetic acid crystals from the water ones.
The concentrated vinegars may or may not be diluted glacial acetic acid. If over 30% it is almost surely synthetic. Technically, if they aren’t brewed (fermented) they should use the term ‘vinegar’ but since it is not being used as food specifically I think this may be a legal loophole.
In short, the chemical difference between synthetic acetic acid and brewed vinegar is that the brewed vinegar has many more organic and flavor compounds as well as some residual alcohol. As far as the vinegars used for cleaning made from synthetic acetic acid, they usually don’t have additives since the strength of the vinegar makes it hard for any additive to remain stable. However, check the label to be sure of no additives.
Technically it could be used for consumption, however, if not explicitly food grade it is not required to meet heavy metal (lead, mercury, etc.) limits. The chance of heavy metals actually being in the vinegar is not huge but food grade synthetic vinegar has to remove this.
Dear Reginald,
I am really enjoying the wonderful way you share your knowledge. Even the questions are interesting. I haven’t been able to find this level of information or even anything relating to “why is my distilled white vinegar turning brown” online.
My Canadian brand of “No Frills” distilled white vinegar which the label says is 5%, has turned a tan or light brown and smells off. It is hard to describe. The first whiff was sulfurous and the second was milder probably because I had let the “top air” out. I don’t know where it is manufactured. It says “Product of Canada” on the label but that could be either the label itself or the plastic bottle. (what a woild!) I use about 4, 4 litre bottles a year so it is not old. Just older than what it would be if I didn’t live in an apartment complex with over 200 people that use the same laundry equipment during the Corona lockdown.
Can you tell me why this is happening and can I use it if it is aired out? Is it an indication that the vinegar is below 5%? Is it still good for windows but not laundry? With the covid supply chain shortages etc. it is hard to find the cheap stuff. $1.97 vs $4.97 is big for me. I can get my money back, but really? I bought a 2nd 4L bottle and it started to turn tan soon after I opened it. (I will contact Loblaws Canada and let them know. I don’t think it needs to be recalled, but 2 batches that the best buy date is 2026 is odd. I’ve been using it for longer than I can remember.)
I only use it for clothes washing and window cleaning or grease removal. I put it in the fabric softener tray to remove all soap residue and soap smells. Can I still use it for these things even if it may be fermenting?
Thank you for your help,
Maureen
Hi, this should not happen with any kind of white distilled vinegar. Did any metal or powder come in contact with the vinegar or cap while doing laundry? I don’t think it would be a risk for laundry, but if you are nervous, just use it for cleaning.