Story Developing…
Within 24 hours our petition has received over 43k signatures and gained mainstream media exposure. Social media has been taken by a storm of concerned citizens asking the beer companies Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors to publish their ingredients online.
I just received an email, a phone call and tweet from Anheuser-Busch. I spoke with their Vice President of Communications, Terry Vogt, this afternoon and they are agreeing to post all ingredients online in the coming days, but do not have a concrete timeline. I am thrilled with Anheuser-Busch’s quick response and can’t wait to see the ingredients of all of their beers online.
It’s pretty amazing that making your voice heard can change the policies of a multi-billion dollar company overnight.
Thank you #FoodBabeArmy. You an incredible force to be reckoned with.
MillerCoors needs to step up to the plate, post their ingredients, and so should all other beer companies for that matter! Please continue to sign and share the petition – Let’s end all #MysteryBeer together!
See letter from Anheuser-Busch to us today:
Vani:
On behalf of our CEO and our entire Anheuser-Busch family, I would like to invite you and your husband to visit our flagship St. Louis brewery to show both of you how our beers are made and the ingredients we use. Our brewmasters take great pride in making our beers to the highest standards of quality and consistency.
As I believe you are already aware, we provide significant information about our beers and their nutritional content through both our consumer hotline (1-800-DIAL-BUD) and our global consumer-information website www.tapintoyourbeer.com, which we have expanded over the years. This information exceeds what is required of alcohol producers and is beyond what many other beer, wine and hard liquor producers provide.
However, as American consumer needs evolve, we want to meet their expectations. Therefore, we are working to list our beer ingredients on our website, just as you would see for other food and non-alcohol beverage producers. We are beginning immediately, having incorporated this information earlier today onwww.tapintoyourbeer.com for our flagship brands Budweiser and Bud Light, and will be listing this for our other brands in the coming days.
Please let me know when there is a convenient time for you and your husband to visit us in St. Louis. I look forward to connecting with you soon.
Sincerely,
Terri Vogt
Vice President, Communications
Anheuser-Busch
Great news!
Here’s my question: how do you know the list of ingredients they are offering to share is genuine? For all we know, it’s a list they WANT us to see, where harmful ingredients have been left off. There is really no way to enforce their honesty.
True, but the same can be said for any food or drink company.
Not really. Typical food and drink is treated differently than alcohol. The makers of alcoholic drinks are not required to list ingredients. Very few do. Just as wineries want you to believe wine is no more than grapes and yeast, beer companies want you to believe beer is only water, barley malt, rice, yeast and hops. I’m not saying either is adding harmful products, but it’s probably not the whole truth.
(to brian), yes, but how do we know that the ingredients that food and drink companies provide are the actual ingredients listed. They can just as easily “lie” to us which is what Lisbeth seemed to be implying.
No quality brewer proudly includes rice.
you have to think legal termnolgy on the matter…….whats the difference between an ingredient and an additive?
why is is breaking news and break thru that companies would reveal what is in their FOOD or Drinks? man, this is pathetic on ONE hand you even have to BEG for this but great job anyway
Vani,
Thanks for your work on this. I went through a similar process recently when I demanded to know why there was GMO corn syrup in these big name beers. I was literally sick to my stomach when I found out there were GMOs in my then favorite Miller Lite, and I’ve banned it and all of these other beers ever since. I am a huge non-GMO advocate and was angry to my core that I had no way of knowing what was in my beer. Thank God for social media spreading the knowledge these companies want to hide.
I got ZERO responses on Twitter and Miller Coors was the only one to respond to my question on Facebook. They told me to call in and I ended up getting a canned response regarding the GMO corn syrup in their beer and that it was “safe and its use in the food industry was widespread”. Yeah, that makes me feel better…show me a dedicated craft brewery that believes corn syrup is necessary in beer! What a joke.
The sad fact is that these companies will continue to use these toxic ingredients because they’re cheap and government subsidies are helping to pay for their usage. No other countries want our GMO corn, that’s for sure! Transparency of ingredients is a good and necessary step, but until consumer’s start to care more about their health than the bottom line price of these cheap, toxic beers, we’ll continue to lose this battle. As I always say, pay for it now or pay for it later!
– The Food Dude
Well said. It’s encouraging to see that more people are taking notice of what is in the food they eat. Sadly, too many people put cost before health of the food they buy. If they didnt we could fix the problems with our food supply much quicker and easier. It’s awesome to see this coverage on major news stations though! Awareness is key. Maybe things will start to change once people learn more about gmo’s and chemicals in our food supply…and take the steps necessary to avoid them.
That’s a HUGE win! Excellent!
I second that thought!!!!!
Here’s my question: how do you know the list of ingredients they are offering to share is genuine? For all we know, it’s a list they WANT us to see, where harmful ingredients have been left off. There is really no way to enforce their honesty.
Ironically, tapintoyourbeer.com states “Quality is more important than quantity…” Thanks AB. I’ll keep that in mind and make sure to pass on your products in favor of local, organic, or Reinheitsgebot compliant beers!!
Hi Vani.. You do great work.
I have known for years that the major brewers, almost all owned by one of two conglomerates, have for decades been making a product that simply cannot be called beer. I learned long ago how to brew my own fantastic beers using the only 4 ingredients that should be allowed in beer; water, malt, hops and yeast. This way you can source all the best possible organic ingredients too. All over North America there is a rapidly growing community of microbrewers making a huge variety of fantastic and unique beers. People are discovering what real beer tastes like again and are abandoning the dinosaurs and choosing a REAL product.
I know you will be successful in getting these corporations to disclose all the stuff from the list of almost 250 ingredients used to make their far inferior products. But I think the real solution is to show people what real beer is like and urge them to support these new brewers and to simply abandon these huge companies whose time has passed. They can disclose all the ingredients they want, they still make a crappy product.
This is a good start, but I too am skeptical as to how legitimate their ingredients list will be.
I think your tour will provide a better insight into their process.
Steve
I opened my brewery last year after 8 years of professionally brewing for other Craft Brewers, and I can assure you that this story goes much deeper. The chemical salesman came knocking at my door the week before I opened to sell me the accelerants, antifoam agents, yeast-washing chemicals and other goodies promising me an increase in yield and quicker production time. “No thanks,” I said. The industry differentiates between “ingredients” and “processing agents,” often justifying that the extra chemicals are not actually ingredients. Some go so far as to only list on their cans/bottles the ingredients but not the process agents.
We call it “Lance Armstronging” the beer, and my company does not use these process agents. We list ALL ingredients on the bottle, and we have been talking about this subject since we opened. It has made us many friends (and a few enemies), but the time has come to Know Your Beer. The consumer has the right to make informed decisions.
Holy cow. That’s scary. Thanks for having the vision and guts to do the right thing.
more micro brewers should speak up more to hit the big boys with all the horror substances they put in.
Many beers use corn syrup in their ingredients, but Budweiser also use genetically engineered rice in their beer. While I laud Food Babe for her diligent, proactive efforts, I am sincerely curious, does this mean that Budweiser will finally openly avow their use of GMOs in their beer? Budweiser needs to do more than say they use “rice” in their beer, they need to admit it is GE rice! See this article from Greenpeace.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/anheuser-busch-using-experimen/
Thank God I see no beaver anal glands listed. Waiting for the ingredients list was ruining my life!
I agree with Lisbeth. These guys can do what they want and know they can get away with it. They will give some list of ingredients but until you have the product analyzed how do you really know anyways?
Let us go after wine next! I love a nice glass of red wine, but also spend much time and effort to eat good, whole, organic foods. I find myself looking at lables of wine for the ingredients and I have the same experience that you described on Alex Jones show when you realized your husbands beer is actually a mystery “brew” in your refridgerator. Its baffling that, alcohol/liquor which is so regulated, is not even required to show ingredients. There could be anything in there. IN my case i want to know if there are any fake ingredients in red wine.
On a side note, I am an American living in Germany and of all the overwhelming issues living in a foreign country, the food here is by far the biggest problem. If you think the US is bad, I tell you that it is much worse here. Evreything is packaged and processed. I gave up on my love for gourmet clean cooking and have settled for being happy to find BIO chicken and greens just to survive. I have chosen not to extend my contract to work here and this is a primary reason. Its interesting because the world thinks Americans eats terribly andare all are obese…some of which is true, but the norm here is sausage, crappy starchy pasta and white bread. This is no better than McDonalds or Burger King in my mind.
Anyway, you go girl…im with you! I wish you best of success!
Desiree
Desiree, just out of curiosity, what exactly do you mean by evertything is packaged and processed and crappy and white bread etc.? There are butchers, bakers, supermarkets with produce sections, far superior dairy products. Maybe you are just a little bit overwhelmed, don’t know the language, etc.
Just a thought – since we are talking about the big boys who export.
Most export countries (China/Korea/Japan for starters) require full disclosure of the ingredients on the back label. Although there is always a small chance that the ingredients have been changed to meet with the export market regulations it should at least give a good starting point or reference point for comparisons sake.
Still, changing the legislation is what is required here for consumer education
No yeast was mentioned in the original text. It was not until the 19th century Louis Pasteur discovered the role of microorganisms in fermentation; therefore, yeast was not known to be an ingredient of beer. Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation.
I attended a craft beer event over the weekend which showcased 84 different micro brews for tasting. Amazing flavors and some organic. I don’t know why anyone would drink Budweiser in this day and age, I guess because of the fear of change and those expensive Superbowl commercials implanted into your psychy, lol.
Awesome Vani! Now whose next! Let’s keep this movement moving!
So why didn’t Mr. Vogt just cut to the chase and say it . . “Our beers don’t use any of the additives you mentioned, nor do we use GMO derived ingredients or sweeteners of any kind.”
Thank you sir . . we’d love to take a tour of your brewery !
Beer used to be healthy because the water is filtered so many times, but not in America. No coloring no additives, no preservatives. No carbonation. No added sugars, unless from cane, or beat, no GMO food used. NO mysterious clear liquid!! No big bag of white powder!! Is flour naturally white?? Nope it’s bleached white by using chemicals!! Is sugar naturally white? Nope same answer!!
How can you be assured that they will post the ENTIRE ingredient list….?
You should take a craft brewer with you. From what I was told by a craft beer brewmaster in a very large brewery in the southeast Busch uses rice as a filler in their mash in order to keep costs down and the beer cheap.
The rice releases an enzyme in the fermentation process that is the root cause of headaches in so many people. I never get a headache from craft beer, always when I drink Busch beer. Now I understand why.
I do not think a tour will tell you anything behind the scenes, it is just a feel good PR stunt to get you off their back. Do not be swayed. I love what you are doing my wife turned me on to your blog and I think it is excellent.
Feel free to email me for details regarding my tour of a brewery, I will be happy to let you know which one, I highly suggest you visit one before you tour the one in St. Louis.
thank you foodbabe for taking this on. Greatfull for all you have done for people.
I certainly appreciate your motivation to achieve transparency in ingredient labeling. Perhaps, for any food or beverage product.
But what is not clear to me is why only Miller and Coors and Budweiser?
Why shouldn’t ALL beers be labeled?
Don’t all consumers have the right to know about ingredients?
I’m not sure why you would want to create the impression that you are biased?
I havent drank alcoholic beverages since 1997, but I fully support you foodbabe because inquiring minds want to know. I used to drink Coors and I always wondered what was in it. Thank You for leading this campaign! Come On Miller, if you are not ashamed with what you put in your beer then you should be willing to share that information. Congratulations Anheuser-Busch on your willingness to share this information so your consumers will know what they are drinking! I have signed the petition and have book-marked your site today! Food Babe, Thanks for everything you are doing to help consumers make more informed choices as to what is in their food and beverages! ( I saw you on Alex Jones. )
Great eye opener!!
What about liquors? I know this article is about beer but I would imagine that all these flavored liquors have some additional ingredients.
I drank a lot of Miller growing up, as an adult, and then in my late 40’s when I had my first child. She’s very autistic and while Miller denies the hidden ingredients, it’s obvious that they’re secretly vaccinating us without our consent. The doctors are all paid off by big alcohol, so it’s no surprise they deny the Miller had any effect. What’s confusing is that they are all saying my child has something called fetal alcohol syndrome, but thanks to smart folks like you, Food Babe, we all know it’s the secret ingredients and that my child is autistic.
You are a troll or an idiot. Which is it?
@Lisbeth, they have been invited to see the entire process of the beer being made with the ingredients they use. I call that, full transparency
great, great, great job! can you get food coloring out of pickels and relish now?
Yes! I second this to pickles!!!
Support INDEPENDENT laboratory testing of beer and other foods. That means that consumers need to demand that independent, very high quality analytical assessment from multiple labs, and make this the standard for their own food intake. We need to support the setup of new labs, and support the highest quality assurance of their work. They need to do assessment that the government/industry will not do.
Good Idea
I saw where they posted the ingredients on their Facebook page. It’s a joke. And yes, I looked at the FD&C requirements, and they will likely never release a list of all of the ingredients., because they don’t have to. It should be enough for people to know that 95% of all the corn that the government heavily subsidizes farmers to over produce…is GMO. And it is in EVERYTHING. The biggest pressure that could be put on these companies would be to be more transparent about the use of GMOs, but that is a battle that most Americans do not seem to want to fight, unlike other countries around the world who have been successful in banning GMOs. We seem to care less about what we put in our mouths, which is how Monsanto and other mega-corporations enjoy a revolving door between themselves and the White House with each successive administration. Don’t give up on this one, Food Babe! We can change what they do if the people are willing to make demands.
Why did they not list the sweetener they use for their fermentation process? probably Corn syrup? I use Organic sugar when I brew. also rice, is it Organic rice or GMO rice? we all know corn syrup comes from GMO corn. Plus all the Agents they use in the process. can’t trust them! Only drink beer that is imported from Germany.!
Why would they add any sugar? The point to add sugar is to boost ABV. More sugar = more for the yeast to eat and turn into alcohol. If you didn’t notice, BMC beers have fairly low ABV.
Please do your homework before making statements. There are no GMO rice varieties available commercially and the USDA stated in 2014 that the US rice supply was free of GM material.
You can tell by some of the responses that the ‘big wigs’ are getting upset. Keep up the good work Vani! It’s working 🙂
Congratulations, I opened my weekend Financial Times to find this story on the FRONT page. Sad that we have to pressure companies to learn the ingredients in food/beverages, and where the ingredients come from.
Vani,
You are definitely making a difference in this world! The changes you were able to make with Subway and Anheuser-Busch, albeit with a little help from Alex Jones, really show the influence one good person can have.
Is there any way that you can get something going regarding Monsanto and their destructive products? I’m thinking specifically of Roundup herbicide and all of their GMO’s. I don’t know that a petition would do much for them to change, but if you had one at least we could gauge how many people are opposed to what they’re trying to accomplish. Maybe you could do a petition and couple it with a boycott of all of their products. I would certainly sign it and support such a boycott.
What do you think – are you willing to make an even bigger difference with something far worse than you’ve ever dealt with?
Barry
FoodBabe is the ingredient to a great blog
Thank you Vani! Your passion and dedication to this mission will ultimately hold companies more accountable and educate the rest of Americans-we desperately need it! I hope we can use this information to make better choices all around and attempt healthier lifestyles. I am sharing with my peeps on social media and my blog. Awesome work. I am a fan/supporter! You will always have my vote!
Having worked wine production, I bet there a lot of folks in Napa/Sonoma who are thinking on all of this very seriously.
Does she ever update her site, where’s this list of ingredients? Couldn’t find it on Budweiser’s site.
You are such an incredible, inspiring woman! I love to read all of the incredible things you’re doing to help expose what’s really in our food. I’ve become obsessed with finding out what’s in my food and one of your posts inspired me to do some digging for McAlister’s bread. I was really bummed at what I found out, but it makes for great blog content right? ; )
Wow, its been on the label since before you were born….have a looksee.
Go look for yourselves, they did not disclose their ingredients. They only give a flowery description of the favorable things they claim are in their beer. Until, these giants of the industry can be truthful, I’m on full boycott
Just got this today from AHB, except it gives me an error: @run4acure we list the ingredients for several of our beers on http://www.tapintoyourbeer.com w/ more to come. Check it out!
People that drink beer generally understand it’s not good for them…. This will not change anything.
Ingredients should also be listed for tea bags. Yes, teabags! While the tea itself might be natural, even organic, the teabag’s paper is made with special toxic chemicals to help it hold in hot water. More on this here: http://everythingfortea.com/iii5
Where is the list of ingredients being posted?
@Barry- It wont be long when everything we have the ability to eat will be contaminated by Monsanto GMO’s. They are slowly gaining massive ground. Even our cotton sheets are contaminated on the backs of sick Indian farmers. We recently did an article on the problem with sheets here http://chaoticness.com/what-happened-to-egyptian-cotton-and-why-do-sheets-suck-so-bad/
As far as beer goes its scary to think how long all the beer drinkers have been sucking this crap down.
What happened to the beer ingredients investigation? It was hot for a while then it went cold. What happened on the trip to Budweiser?
Will they be letting us know if the water used to brew their beer is fluoridated? Maybe ABINBEV won’t, but Beers Without Fluoride will. https://www.facebook.com/fluoridefreebeer
I went to tapintoyourbeer.com and couldn’t find an ingredient list .