The Truth That May Burst Your Beer Bubble
~By Sheila Garcia
It’s all over the internet lately – what’s the truth about what’s in your beer? Actually, I have been looking into this for some time. It’s no secret I care a great deal about what I ingest and put into my body (not JUST food, but what we DRINK as well), and though I don’t drink beer often, I do from time-to-time, and my spouse loves it. If you are like me, and care about what goes on inside your body as much as what goes on outside your body – both for you AND the ones you love, then this information may be somewhat shocking.
When you drink beer, or any other libation for that matter, there is almost a 100% chance that you don’t know what you are drinking, and here’s why: The ingredients in beer are not required by law to be listed anywhere on the label and manufacturers have no legal obligation to disclose the ingredients. For regular beer, calorie levels and percent alcohol are optional; and for light beer, calories are mandatory but alcohol levels are optional.
Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, author of ‘Appetite for Profit’, and president of ‘Eat, Drink, Politics’ quoted the reason that beer companies don’t disclose ingredients is simple: they don’t have to. “Ingredient labeling on food products and non-alcoholic beverages is required by the Food and Drug Administration. But a whole other federal agency regulates beer, and not very well. The Department of Treasury – the same folks who collect your taxes – oversees alcoholic beverages. That probably explains why we know more about what’s in a can of Coke than a can of Bud. You can also thank the alcohol industry, which has lobbied for years against efforts to require ingredient labeling.”
The truth is that very recently, beer companies have admitted to some of the ingredients being manufactured into their products, and they are not what we’ve been led to believe.
* Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring – Newcastle, a UK brand, confessed to using what I would most definitely consider one of the most controversial food or beverage additives. Toasted barley is usually what gives beer its golden or deep brown color; however, in this case, Newcastle beer is also colored artificially with caramel color. This caramel coloring is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. If beer companies were required by law to list the ingredients, Newcastle would likely have to have a cancer warning label under California law because it is a carcinogen proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice.
* Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) – Many of the beers in questions contain one or more possible GMO ingredients, including, but not limited to:
~ High Fructose Corn Syrup (Guinness)
~ Corn syrup (Miller Light, Coors, Corona, Fosters, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Stripe)
~ Dextrose (Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch Light, Michelob Ultra)
~ Corn (Red Stripe, Miller Coors Brand, Anheuser-Busch Brands)
* High Fructose Corn Syrup & Fish Bladders – Guinness beer is no longer owned by the Irish, they are now owned by a large beer conglomerate called Diageo and manufactured in over 50 different countries. No matter how many St. Patty’s Day celebrations you’ve had with this dark stout, it’s time to stop because they use high fructose corn syrup in their beer (Update: Guinness Beer claims they do not use high fructose corn syrup any longer, but refuses to disclose ingredient affidavits or full of list of ingredients.) But, Guinness beer also contains isinglass, a gelatin-like substance produced from the swim bladder of a fish. This ingredient helps remove any “haziness,” solids, or yeast byproducts from the beer. Mmmmm… fish bladder sounds delicious, doesn’t?
So in the end, if you decide to drink beer, you are definitely drinking at your own risk if you don’t educate yourself on the ingredients being used. The key point to remember is: if you like to drink beer and want to be healthy, drink it infrequently and quiz the beer companies for the truth. Find a beer that you can trust and stick with it.
For your reference, here are some key-point questions you can ask your favorite beer company:
* What are the ingredients in your beer – all of them from start to finish?
* Are any of your ingredients GMO?
* Do you use any soy, corn, or rice processing ingredients? (Examples include: dextrose, corn syrup, etc.)
* Do you add any natural, artificial flavors or colors to the beer? (Examples include: yellow #5, caramel coloring, red #40, MSG, natural flavors)
* Are there any additional preservatives, stabilizers and/or clarifying agents added to your beer during processing? (Examples include: propylene glycol, Calcium Disodium EDTA, anything ending in “sulfite” like sodium metabisulfite, Heptylparaben, isinglass)
Here is another interesting article about beer and the dangerous ingredients that could be in them:
Eight Beers That You Should Stop Drinking Immediately
So remember, these ingredients are no joke. We must inform and protect ourselves and each other from these industrial chemicals, untested and potentially harmful ingredients, and it starts by sharing what you’ve learned with people you care about, and ends with your healthy lifestyle and the legacy you build!
Cheers!