Methyl alcohol

Methyl alcohol is the common alternative name for methanol, the simplest alcohol with a single carbon atom. In the food world it matters mainly as a hazard: it is acutely toxic, causing blindness and death when ingested, and it is the dangerous contaminant in adulterated or illicitly distilled spirits that periodically causes mass poisonings. Legitimate distillers limit methanol through careful distillation practice, discarding early fractions where it concentrates, and regulators set maximum levels in spirits. It is also used as an analytical solvent in food laboratories under strict residual limits, and it occurs naturally at low levels in fruit juices and wines from the breakdown of pectin.