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Big Update: The Truth That Beer Companies Have Not Made Public Yet

On June 11, 2014, I launched a petition to ask 2 major beer companies – Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors to disclose their ingredients online. The alcohol industry lobbied for years to keep this information secret from us – and now finally due to your support, signatures and activism, we’re finally going to get some information. The Food Babe Army succeeded where other organizations have not. To think beer companies have gotten away with this for decades is mind-boggling.

“This is pretty incredible: 24 hours, and 43,000 signatures after her petition went online, Vani Hari, aka the “Food Babe,” has convinced Anheiser-Busch to publicly reveal the list of ingredients for its beers. To put that into context, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been lobbying the government to require beer companies to list their ingredients — something they’re not currently required to do by law — for three decades.” – Salon

I am so amazed by the power of the #FoodBabeArmy. What we have done is truly astonishing. In just one day, we received not only responses from these huge multi-billion dollar corporations, but they are already taking steps in the right direction and beginning to publish their ingredients online. But the fight is not over, I’m still going to need you to pay attention and learn the facts about what’s happening right now. I spent last weekend gathering this critical information to share with you – I want you to have all the details. 

On the afternoon of June 12, 2014, I received a phone call and a letter from Anheuser-Busch, in which they told me that they they will agree to publish their ingredients online at TapIntoYourBeer.com and invited me to meet with their head brewmasters in St. Louis. When I heard the news, I was obviously thrilled (one of my lovely team members took a photo right at that moment, see below). I had been thinking and preparing for this petition for almost a year and was honestly quite shocked at the fast response.

image-18

Unfortunately, they decided only to post ingredient lists for Budweiser and Bud Light, initially. Obviously, this is not enough and I’m really looking forward to seeing the ingredient lists for their remaining beers as promised in the coming days. I am keeping very close tabs on this and will update you when all the ingredients for all of their beers are posted. I am looking forward to visiting Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis to learn more about their ingredient disclosures and talk to their brewmasters. That being said – I don’t think there’s any excuse for them to delay the listing of their other brands on their website, including the ingredients in Bud Light Lime which I was told contains high fructose corn syrup by their customer service representative after repeated inquiries and Stella Artois which reportedly contains caramel coloring:

Stella Artois infographic

This petition is all about transparency.

I want these companies to be open and honest about all of the ingredients they use to make some of the most popular beers in this country. With over 55,000 signatures, it’s apparent that the public overwhelmingly wants to know what ingredients go into the beers they drink, and the American Medical Association is on the record showing support for more transparency about ingredients, “based on health, safety, religious and other concerns, the public desires and deserves accurate information on ingredients and potential allergens in alcoholic beverages”.  

Despite all of this, MillerCoors initially didn’t agree to publish ingredients and in an early interview with ABC News they stated that their ingredients were “proprietary information”. It was only after they felt the heat from Anheuser-Busch’s announcement, that MillerCoors quickly announced that they had also agreed to publish ingredients online.  When I saw their announcement on their facebook page, I nearly leaped out of my chair – only to learn that they were once again trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Unlike Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors did not reach out me by phone or email, they sent me a simple Tweet. The tweet linked to a short list of “ingredients” for only 8 of their beers on their Facebook page:

MillerCoors Facebook

They have since posted this same list on their website here. Keep in mind, MillerCoors has over 40 brands of beer here in the U.S., so I’d hardly call this a comprehensive list.  

List from Miller Coors website

I knew immediately that they were not telling us the complete truth, and that they were definitely not giving us the kind of transparency that we’re asking for. It was obvious to me that MillerCoors was scrambling to put something (anything) online, so they didn’t look bad in the wake of their competitor’s announcement. However – they made some major mistakes in doing so.  

MISTAKE #1 – Failing To List Corn Syrup As An Ingredient

Prior to launching my petition a week ago, my team and I sent dozens of emails to MillerCoors asking them to disclose the ingredients in several of their beers. This was not a simple undertaking, as they told us their ingredients were proprietary. We asked them specific questions about ingredients, including the use of hop extracts, colorings, stabilizers, and GMOs – and most of them went unanswered. However, we were able to obtain some concrete information. In one particular email from MillerCoors Customer Service they told me that “corn syrup” is one of the main ingredients “used in all our beers“.  Check out the screenshot of this email from their customer service agent:

Coors Banquet Email 6-2

So, why is MillerCoors now just listing “corn” and not “corn syrup” as an ingredient on their website? It sure looks like they don’t want to give us the full story and know it will look bad if they tell us the truth about corn syrup being an ingredient. Of course, I immediately confronted them with this information, and they responded that “the corn we use is a liquid corn brewing adjunct”Natural News did an exclusive interview with me on this issue last week, which was also reported in Beverage Daily. While I don’t know what brand of liquid adjunct they use, if it’s anything like this one by Cargill it’s supposed to be labeled as “corn syrup” and it’s trademarked as corn syrup. One reporter from USA Today revealed the truth – that it is in fact “corn syrup” being used by MillerCoors.

MISTAKE #2 – Failing To List Rice As An Ingredient In Coors Banquet

As you can see in their email above, they also told me that rice was an ingredient in Coors Banquet – yet they are not disclosing this as an ingredient on their new webpage. Is there rice in Coors Banquet, or not? Why are they publishing something different online than what customer service told me a couple weeks ago?  

And then I remembered – they have been known to change their story in the past, depending on who you talk to. When I wrote my beer investigation last summer, MillerCoors told me via email that they used GMO corn in their beers. However when I called them up last week, the customer service agent on the phone told me that they do not use any GMO products. But then when I emailed them again last week, they said they do use biotech corn. Do they think it’s okay to just make this stuff up? What should we believe?

MISTAKE #3 – Failing To List Corn As An Ingredient In Blue Moon

Rice is not the only thing that MillerCoors left off their ingredient list. They published the ingredients for Blue Moon Belgian White on their website as, “water, barley malt, wheat, oats, yeast, hops, orange peel and coriander”. This is in direct contradiction to what their customer service agents told me a couple weeks ago, in which they said that “corn syrup” is an ingredient in Blue Moon:

Blue Moon email

I’m not the only one they told this to. According to Barnivore, Blue Moon said, “Corn syrup is one of the basic ingredients used in most Blue Moon products as US consumers prefer its taste“. Clearly – corn syrup is an ingredient in Blue Moon beer, but they are now trying to hide that fact and are blatantly lying to us on the ingredient list posted on their website!  

This really makes me wonder. What else has MillerCoors left off their “ingredient disclosure”?

I would like to think that MillerCoors would do their due diligence and make sure that the ingredients that they post online are accurate and at least comply with FD&C Act labeling guidelines, as it appears Anheuser-Busch said they will be doing. These mistakes made by MillerCoors are surprising. Especially in light of the huge media exposure that our petition generated, which has been featured all over the world and has shown the power of the Food Babe Army. Several people have been coming out of the woodwork, calling us names, trying to discredit some of the claims I’ve made about the ingredients that are being used in beer. I’m going to address that now, because you deserve to know the truth.

“Propylene Glycol Alginate” is added to beer as a foam stabilizer.

There are a few blog posts circulating that indicate propylene glycol is used in the external chilling system at breweries and that it’s never is added to beer. They go as far to say that the only way it could be in beer is if there is a tank leak. Well, I’m not talking about leaking tanks here. The chemical Propylene Glycol Alginate (PGA) is added to some beers as a stabilizer for foam control and it is sold as an additive under various commercial names such as Stabilfoam. Another potential source of PGA is as a carrier for some “natural flavors” in fruit-flavored and cider beers. Propylene Glycol is added to many foods and drinks, it’s a very common food additive and I see it on ingredient lists everywhere at the grocery store. I know this because ingredient lists are on those items – but rarely on beer. In Germany, Propylene Glycol Alginate is listed as an ingredient on this bottle of Corona as “E405 Alginat” (the European food additive number for Propylene Glycol is E405), and you will also find it on this ingredient list on Sinebrychoff’s website in Finland. So, I’m really curious to know if and what other beers Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors may add this ingredient to.

Don’t you find it interesting that Anheuser-Busch InBev is required to label Corona in Germany but not here? They clearly have the ingredient list and have to do this in other countries – why aren’t they labeling it for us? This is another example of how beer companies exploit our interests as American citizens.

Corona label pic

If corn syrup is used as an adjunct, it should be on the ingredient list.

Adjuncts (corn, rice, corn syrup, dextrose) are used by some brewers instead of, or in conjunction with, barley malt. Some argue that corn syrup is just added as an adjunct to feed the yeast, and doesn’t end up in the final product. They suggest that for this reason, corn syrup shouldn’t be on the ingredient list. The sugar in traditional beer comes from the barley malt, so would you say that barley malt isn’t an ingredient in beer? During my investigation last year, Anheuser-Busch admitted to me on the phone that they use dextrose (likely made from genetically engineered corn). And as shown email above, MillerCoors said they use corn syrup as an adjunct in their beers. Also in an email, Pabst Blue Ribbon told me their corn syrup is a blend of simple sugars like “dextrose and maltose.” There is no reason to keep this a secret from the public.

Fining agents that are added to beer should be disclosed so consumers can make an informed choice.

Beer makers often use processing aides to remove yeast from beer, and one of these is an animal product. Some beer bloggers are saying fish swim bladder (isinglass) is something not be concerned about. I’m not saying this is a harmful additive and I know it’s been used for centuries to make beer. However, they are saying that it all stays in the fermenter and does not end up in the final product, so it should not be on the label. I’m not personally convinced that these fining agents are completely left behind in the tank bottom, especially since Guinness admits that their beer may contain trace amounts. Who has tested their beer to see how high these “trace amounts” may be and is willing to share those results? This is a real issue for vegans & vegetarians, whether it ends up in their bottle of beer or not, they deserve to know if an animal product was used in its production. Instead of isinglass, some breweries use food-grade carrageenan (from Irish Moss) that is linked to colon inflammation and colon cancer in animals.  Food-grade carrageenan has also been shown to be contaminated with degraded (non-food grade) carrageenan, which is a carcinogen. Samuel Adams admitted via email that they use carrageenan to process their beers, yet I did not find this information on their website or label.  As trace amounts may remain in beer, consumers should be able to make an informed choice on whether they will consume beer that was processed with these fining agents, so these should be publicly disclosed.

If “Hop Extracts” are used we want to know about it.

Some brewers don’t use whole hops or hop pellets but rather a chemically altered hop extract to add bitterness while reducing the amount of actual hops in the beer. One reason behind this is apparently to keep the beer from getting that skunky smell that is caused by hops exposed to light (light struck). This allows the beer manufacturer to provide “trendy” packaging while maintaining a long shelf life. Watertown Hops Company is a subsidiary of MillerCoors, a manufacturer of hop extracts, and MillerCoors has also patented hop extracts. Several email inquires MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch in which we asked if they use any hop extracts have gone completely unanswered to date – I plan on asking Anheuser-Busch about this in person when I see them in a few weeks. When a soda company sweetens a drink with stevia extract (instead of whole stevia leaf) it will be designated as an extract on the ingredient list. Likewise, if a bottled tea is made with a tea extract instead brewed tea leaves, it’s listed as an extract or concentrate on the ingredient list. It’s all about giving us the whole picture about what is really being used to make the products that we drink – and we deserve to know the truth.  

This feeble attempt at transparency is not going to work.  

Please continue to show your support by signing this petition to demand full transparency on all of the ingredients being used by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch. Here’s where you’ll find the MillerCoors Facebook and Twitter pages to let them know that they’re still serving #MysteryBeer – and ask them to disclose all ingredients including corn syrup, rice, propylene glycol, caramel coloring, fining agents and hop extracts.  

As a consumer who votes with their dollar (like many of you out there), having this information is critical to know whether to support these companies or not. I thank everyone for moving the needle this week – the more transparency we have the better! I love watching what happens when concerned citizens come together. 

#FoodBabeArmy – you are a force to be reckoned with!

Please share this major update with everyone you know.  

Much Love,

Vani 

P.S. If you are looking for some clean beer options without fining agents or additives, check this list we put together. 

P.P.S. Our work was mentioned in major news outlets all over the globe, here’s a sampling if you’d like to get caught up:

 P.P.P.S. Remember this quote always:

 “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 

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169 responses to “Big Update: The Truth That Beer Companies Have Not Made Public Yet

  1. Should vegans and/or vegetarians be drinking beer or wine when they are the waste product from the metabolism of a living organism? Can’t have either without yeast.

    1. Food Babe is not a vegetarian. That’s an interesting question. Yogurt is also made from milk with the assistance of lactobacillus. Milk is, itself a product of the cow. The difference is that we have not killed the cow for this product.

    2. Newsflash: you eat billions of tiny organisms a day whether you like it or not (including insects). Gotta draw the line somewhere. Also, if you didn’t you would die because gut flora.

      1. You are correct about the bacteria and yeasts we eat every day without most of us knowing about it. We have over 10 Trillion of these in our guts, more than the cells in our entire body. Without them we would all be dead. There is a epidemic rise in gut related problems going on in most of the developed world with Chron’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and IBS, and this has boomed over 30% in the last 10 years. We should all be eating and drinking more fermented foods and beverages to correct the good to bad ratio of this gut flora and it would go a long way to correcting the problems mentioned earlier. You are what you eat and drink and your health depends on it. We need to help ourselves and to stop overusing things like anti-biotics and many other foods that destroy our good bacteria like refined sugars and wheat products.

      1. Mushrooms are actually the fruit of the mycelium so not like yeast at all.

    3. Vegans eat a lot of living organisms and their extracts. Yeast are fungi, which are non-plant, non-animal eukaryotes. I think vegans are OK with mushrooms, so should be OK with yeast.

      1. Then why the fuss about propylene glycol alginate? It’s derived from seaweed.

        And to be clear, it is not the same as propylene glycol aka antifreeze.

  2. Larry Olds,
    I am sure we can all agree that all beer in some way is toxic but that is beside the point. We as consumers should have the right to read the ingredients and know what sort of toxins are in our beverages/food! Even beer! I know, you have mentioned that you would like Vani’s wonderful energy to go towards children and cancer, well IT IS!! She is not only exposing the toxic chemicals in beer but if you follow her blog she is also exposing them in other companies such as Kraft, Coca-cola etc whose ingredients have been linked to ADHD, allergies, and god knows what else but after ingesting enough of these chemicals I’m sure we can eventually add cancer to that list! The bigger picture is always better!! Keep up the great work Vani!!!!

  3. Thanks so much Vani for all your enlightening work regarding this and other food products. I’m wondering what’s the story with Shock Top, the Belgian Wheat Beer label under Anheuser-Busch? On the Shock Top website, they seem to be pretty open with disclosing their ingredients as well as the brewing process. They also state that “while most beers go through a filtering process to remove yeast and proteins, Shock Top is left unfiltered as for a natural cloudiness.” This certainly sounds good, and I do really like their beers a lot, from their Belgian White and Raspberry Wheat to their wintertime Chocolate Wheat. Is there anything else we should know? Does brewing beer with wheat or even orange peels make that beer any better healthwise?

    1. Shock Top does not use natural ingredients to make their beers a certain flavor. Its basically a standard ale and they add flavorings to make them different.

      To make a true wheat beer, you boil various ingredients, including wheat. Let the wort cool, add your yeast. Let the fermentation go. A true flavored wheat would then be poured in to another container to get rid of the particulates. At that point, your secondary would be adding the raspberries, strawberries, chocolate, etc. The yeast now has new sugars to continue the fermentation process. Once done, the wheat beer will take on hints of the flavors from the secondary fermentation.

      I promise you, Shock Top does not do this. It is a very poorly made beer.

      1. You are completely misleading people on this post. Wheat and other ingredients are NOT boiled to make beer. The Barley and Wheat are mashed. The mash process uses enzymes to convert starches to sugars. The runoff from the mash is boiled, hops are added, the wort is cooled, then fermented. There is nothing magical or malicious about making beer, and I challenge anyone to find a beer that is brewed in any way other than this. All the big guys make beer that is very low in flavor, but of the highest quality and brewed the same way beer has been brewed for thousands of years.

      2. Unfortunately this won’t allow me to respond to Stephen. Pat might have simplified the mashing process down to “boiling,” but even fledgling homebrewers don’t really understand the mashing process so how could someone who reads Food Babe’s “research” understand about the different temperatures required during the mash to extract enzymes? What Pat said about the rest is 100% correct, Stephen just chose to go off on a rant based on one (ill-chosen) word. A well-made fruit beer would have actual fruit added to it in secondary; Shock Top (or anything else made or owned by InBev or MillerCoors) is not a well-made beer.

        Now Stephen, if you think the “big guys” make quality beer and think it’s the same way beer has been brewed for thousands of years, I’m very sad for you. The “big guys” do NOT brew beer like it has been — they use large amounts of corn and rice adjuncts to increase the fermentable sugar in the wort WITHOUT adding significant color or flavor. Shock Top is merely a cynical ploy by the “big guys” trying to cash in on the microbrewery movement. I challenge you to find a local brewery and try what real beer should taste like.

  4. Great work Vani and Food Babe Army!

    I took a quick look at a couple of MillerCoors environmental permits online.

    Sometimes environmental permits will list equipment and tanks at the facility, which might show you the potential ingredients.

    So far I have found a document that mentioned “liquid adjuncts” could be added to the facility which would replace rice and starch as brewing agents.

    Here is a quote from that document – “Construction Permit modification 7 allowed the use of liquid adjuncts instead of starch and rice in the brewing process. The capability to use starch and rice will be maintained. Equipment associated with receiving, storing and transferring liquid adjuncts are not emissions sources.”

    Looks like the facilities are using the words “liquid adjuncts” in their environmental permits online to minimize discussing the actual ingredients in their public permitting documents. Let me know if you thinking it would help to locate this type of material for any of your research. You never know what you can find online when you dig into environmental permits and FOIA requests.

    Here is a post summarizing where to find online environmental permitting documents (related to air emissions): http://judifoxblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/environmental-air-permitting-records.html

    Hope this helps!

    1. Can you make a blog about organic foods that taste good because I just had some organic peanut butter for the first time and it was the nastiest thing I had tasted in my whole entire life. It wasn’t sweet or salty like the peanut butters I’m used to.

      1. Beer produced within Germany for the German market must still adhere to the “Reinheitsgebot” which states that only hops, malt, yeast and water may be used in the production of beer. Beer produced for export may contain any number of additves.

      2. Aaron is correct, the Reinheitsgebot was the beer purity law since 1487, it has been superseded by the revised Vorläufiges Biergesetz of 1993, which allows for more than just Water, Barley, Yeast, and hops.

        Another misinformation post!

  5. When you come to St. Louis try Local Harvest, Small Batch, Bridge, and treehouse. They are amazing restaurants that are vegan/vegetarian and locally source all their food. Congrats on the victory!

  6. Does anyone know what the LEAST toxic beer is? How does Guinness rate on the list of toxicity?

  7. Hi Vani! Please tell me again why “caramel” in beer is not a clean ingredient. Thank you for all you do!

    1. Charla,
      Vani is no more equipped to answer that question than you are! What you need to do is conduct research with credible sources (not sites that just give their opinions) and come to your own conclusion. Also, be okay with your findings! If what you find contradicts what Vani says, you can rest assured that you did just as much research as she does!

  8. I know beer drinkers don’t want to hear this but even if beer has no harmful chemicals, it is not a healthy beverage, because of it’s alcohol content. Wine is in the same category. We are not talking about trace amounts as in kombucha. Alcoholic beverages are on the list of products health conscious people should avoid along with smoking and drugs.

    1. True that. I’m all for transparency in our food system, but seriously if we’re here trying to justify drinking ‘clean’ beer, then we’re obviously missing the point. Alcohol is more the perpetrator here, along with some of the other junk.

    2. Alcohol in moderation has been shown time and time again to be beneficial and healthy. As with everything, moderation and balance is key.

      1. To Stephen,
        I have yet to find any real science that demonstrates alcohol, even in moderation, is healthy. Alcohol destroys brain cells, blurs the senses and negatively effects judgment. Doctors tell pregnant women not to consume alcohol mainly because of it’s toxic effect on the fetus. See the website http://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/07/safe-level-alcohol-consumption
        If one is objective, you can see that studies sponsored or funded by alcohol industry supporters are the oft quoted science used to validate safe consumption.

  9. Wow – you’ve just solved a mystery for my mom! She’s allergic to all seafood (the smell alone will cause wheezing), and has always wondered why she got a similar reaction when she tried drinking beer. (Fortunately she noticed a ‘there’s coughs in that’ feeling and just stopped drinking the beer…but that was in 1968, and she hasn’t wanted to try another beer since.) We hadn’t ever thought there might be seafood in a beer!

  10. Hi Vani, So glad you are doing this. I rarely drink beer, but do like the occasional Killian’s Red. I just learned I have a gluten and corn intolerance though I’d never gotten a reaction to beer. Over Memorial Day my husband asked if I wanted to try the Killian’s Dark and gave me a small glass of it. I didn’t have more than 4-5 sips of it (too strong). Within 15 minutes I had the worst reaction of my life; I could hardly speak my joint pain was so bad. I really thought I would pass out. I have an autoimmune disease so am also sensitive to chemicals.

    I would seriously like to know what is in this beer that almost sent me to the emergency room with just a few sips.

    Love what you are doing.
    Kim from Pouring Down Like Rain

    1. Sensitive to chemicals? What chemicals, pray? Is it all chemicals? I feel like you should know what will set off your auto-immune disease. If you’re confused, you can always ask your doctor. They went to school for years to know how the human body works. I know that doesn’t sound as glamorous as Vani’s self-taught Google session where she learned all about how centuries-old brewing practices like isinglass that are no longer used are a threat to your very existence, but doctors usually have some idea what they’re doing.

  11. Congratulations on your victory! Your fortitude, perseverance and dedication all shine throughout your work and made this all possible. Blazing a path isn’t easy in the beginning, but once you recognize the fundamental need for instituting change, you realize that small changes in your life preceding profound changes in your mind. Continue to question why we do the things we do and always realize the future is ALWAYS yours.

  12. Here’s the thing: anyone who’s truly invested in his or her health either completely abstains from alcohol or indulges in it extremely rarely; i.e., infrequently enough that the the undisclosed ingredients don’t really matter. Yes, the beer moguls should have to disclose it all and yada yada, but much like fast food purveyors being required to post their calorie counts, the people who care about such don’t eat the product, and the people who do eat it don’t give a rat’s ass how many calories it contains. If you’re a regular/habitual/daily beer drinker it is doubtful you’re really concerned about its ingredients or their origins. If you only drink once or twice a year, whatever’s in it is of no real consequence.

  13. Great insight on something we have all long expected, which explains why “cheap beer” tastes like cheap beer. I’m worried too about what other “additives” are part of the brewing process that are further from being raw materials than even corn is. Great job Food Babe. Keep fighting the good fight, yo.

  14. Do you have a staff chemist or someone who could come in and break down the components as to what is in the beers. That would prove to big beer that you were right and you would have all the evidence to show everyone.

  15. YOU ROCK!!!! Keep throwing punches, we are here behind you when you need a rest to keep fighting for our RIGHT to know what’s in beer. Thank you for your hard work food babe team!

  16. Are the beer companies, Coors Miller and Budweiser using water that contains fluoride from municipal water systems?

  17. If you think this is bad…Snapple has now offered K-cups of their teas.

    Why would “The greatest stuff on Earth” include aspartame, a neurotoxin and a carcinogen?

    Maybe we can alert others to this potential danger.

  18. Great reads, thank you for the article. I also printed out, and landed on this site, with the home made pizza recipie while searching pizza gmo related content. / Lots of questions about beers and what’s in them. The counter to the food babe, is something about fearmongering. HA! If these people actually understood why gmo’s are truly dangerous, socially, and for human biological reasons, as well as how they’re simply more apt to be sprayed and integrated with pesticides and dangerous protien toxins, they would be scared of most gmo’s too. A billion dollars spent by monsanto on disinformation can certainly go a long way. I checked out this site, in the course of my research as well; http://ffbeers.com/ Tested for Flouride. Really, when it comes to gmo concerns, we should not be climbing up hill, trying to fight for disclosure, I think. Rather, we should focus on being empowered consumers, and driving the consumer market ourselves more than we do. Just today I’ve printed out a half dozen non gmo verified brands, and I’m certainly going to spend my money with them first. Perhaps when the big beer corporatists lose enough customers, they may one day seek non gmo labeling certification as well. That’s the free market in action, Food Babe, and Food Babe readers. Please join me in my quest to vote for healthy foods, with the only vote you’ve really ever had anyways, your dollar. Your vote is in your wallet. Always has been. Jeremy.

  19. We brew our own beer and we have never ever ever but corn it in. I do not understand all the corn in the been.

    1. Corn was used to brew beer to lower the body of the beer. Contrary to popular opinion when the Germans started using Corn in their beers it was not to save money, it was to provide a lighter bodied easier to drink beer than an all malt beer.

      Corn is a perfectly acceptable adjunct.

  20. Where is the link to the beer companies producing non gmo/non additive beers? I just contacted Sierra Nevada and they assured me their beer is pure, made with all natural ingredients, no GMO’s and no additives. A picture of their Pale Ale was on the original petition page but I don’t see it anymore. Most real beer drinkers can tell when something is really wrong like just about every American manufacturer of beer. However one I thought was more than likely clean the Boston Beer co. has not answered any of my questions. Still it bears repeating there should be an emphasis on the companies brewing healthy beer. At least a mention that is not obscured.

      1. OMG (whatever that means, I’m over 40 :o)

        Carragennen is irish moss, a vegtable product. If they didn’t use it in the beer, you wouldn’t buy it, because it wouldn’t ‘look right”.

        “I want spots on my apples, put away the Alar please”

        If you drink In-barf products, or Miller Coors, and you are worried about these additives, then you need to be drinking better microbrewed or craft brewed beer as it’s now called. Blue Moon and Shock Top are a joke. Even Sam Adams is technically craft brewed.

    1. Don’t drink beer from strangers, support your local craft brewery.

      http://www.brewersassociation.org

      Visiting one of the thousands of small craft breweries in this country you not only support local business, but you have a very good chance of being able to ask the brewer who brewed the beer directly, instead of relying on blogs and websites for your “facts”.

  21. Is Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters in St Louis, Missouri? Not a good sign if so, as that is also the headquarters of the monster Monsanto.

  22. It’s not just about what’s IN your beer, but also who these companies represent. For example, Coors is a big contributor to the Republican Party – a political party that is strongly anti-environmental and otherwise strongly anti-progressive. Who wants to give money to people like that, except maybe backwards rednecks (and the corporate CEOs who use them)?

    https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=sourcewatch+coors&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl#q=coors+republican&rls=en

  23. Not to sound like a skeptic (but I am) what’s to say these Companies are listing their ENTIRE ingredients list. I capitalized Companies…because they get treated as if they were people…

  24. I went into tapintoyourbeer.com and Anheuser Busch Budwieser posted as Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Rice, Yeast, Hops. That’s all. Are they playing games here, or does it take more than a month to post all the ingredients?

  25. Now if we can only get her to investigate all the crap that they’re spraying on us from the sky known as chemtrails!

  26. Manufacturers…..you know we americans dont like someone who doesnt step up and tell the truth.I already have changed my beer selection. Manufacturers..When you buy something for your kids,spouse,or yourself…dont you want to know what your paying for ?
    Supporter over 40 male in California
    Barry

  27. Is it OK to drink Summer Shandy? I couldn’t find anything, maybe I missed it. To Ron, June 29th: FYI- non Republicans don’t have the market on environmentalism. You can be a Republican and still care about humanitarian issues. Just as you can be a Democrat and be good at economics. 🙂

  28. This is why I don’t touch commercial beer products. Only microbrew for me. The ones I drink list their ingredients.

  29. I guess I’m a bit late to this party, but I read your article and think it’s fantastic. I think that you accomplished so much, so fast is incredible. I do have a comment though. I don’t think they’re hiding all their ingredients from the public. I think they’re hiding it from other beer companies. Yes, the corn syrup is definitely something to hide from the public because once people see that word, they get scared and tend to stay clear of it. If they give out their entire ingredient list, it makes their product considerably more vulnerable, easier to duplicate. Coriander isn’t the easiest flavor to recognize. I certainly would not want to disclose that information if I didn’t have to.

  30. I have a home bar and purchase kegs regularly. I currently stick only to micro brew companies for my keg purchases. In the past from time to time I would buy kegs of Shock Top Belgium White and Raspberry Wheat. I have dropped Anheuser Bush products long ago not because I know exactly what they put in their beer products but simply because I don’t know what is cleverly tucked into the ingredients they brew with. For example, the last Shock Top raspberry wheat keg I purchased had an artificial sweetner listed right on the label of the keg itself. I am 99% sure they add aspartame to their brew recepie and that is the artificial sweener referred to on the label. I reached out to AB via email and asked them directly only to be lied to and have the subject dodged all together. The response was “our brew masters at AB use only the finest and freshest ingredients” or something to that effect. Anyway, I called customer service and I was told by one rep that AB does not add artificial sweeteners to Shock Top Raspberry Wheat. After informing the rep of the listing on the label I was put on hold and then referred to the tapintoyourbeer website run by AB for a full ingredient disclosure. Liars! No where on their site is artificial ingredients listed for Shock top raspberry wheat. What I find interesting is the fact that if you purchase a six pack of raspberry wheat from the store no where on the bottle or carton is an artificial sweetner listed. Again, they do list the ingredient on kegs. I would love to know what real ingredients are added to Anheuser bush shock top varieties . I suspect, GMO wheat, GMO corn, GMO corn syrup and also the possibility of GMO rice all could be a factor not to mention definitely artificial sweeteners. So since Anheuser bush is not honest and does not allow full disclosure of their real ingredients so I no longer take a chance. After all we all know that GMO corn and dextrose made from GMO corn syrup is in Budweiser. Also Greenpeace busted Anheuser bush using GMO rice in Budweiser as well. Oh and by the way Anheuser bush is the largest singe rice buyer in the US. Hmmm I think I will stick to small micro brew companies. We need GMO labeling and full ingerdient disclosure on all food products including beer in the US. We as consumers have a right to know and also choose what we want to put in our bodies. Thanks food babe for all of your hard work. We have much more to do.

    1. Artificial sweeteners cause glycemic spikes just like regular sugar. If you are already type 2, stay away from the diet sodas, etc. If not, they can hasten the onset of type 2 diabetes.

      My suggestion: Switch to red wine. No glycemic spikes and good for your arteries.

      I still do drink beer occasionally but nowhere like I used to. If I do buy beer, I’ll buy a six pack in case I need to make a beer batter for onion rings, etc. Otherwise, I make (and drink) my own beer.

  31. Food Babe,

    A friend of mine found this blog while helping me research the ingredients in Blue Moon’s Valencia Grove Amber Ale.

    My daughter experienced an allergic reaction after having one of these beers and landed in the ER. She has a peanut and tree nut allergy and while her reaction didn’t include difficulty breathing, her face and eyes swelled, she experienced nausea, and her body broke out in hives.

    At the ER, she disclosed her allergies and what she had recently consumed, she had only had a bit of Fun Dip candy in addition to the full Valencia Grove beer and about half a bottle of regular Blue Moon. She was told that the Valencia Grove contained peanut extract, hence her reaction. Had she had more than the one, her reaction would have been more severe.

    We don’t know where the ER worker got his information, however, so we can’t confirm his statement.

    We were confused by this because as she’s had this allergy for nearly 5 years, it was our understanding that food and beverage manufacturers must list allergens as ingredients on their labels.

    While she is also allergic to some melons, some citrus and tree fruit, namely those with pits, she has never before exhibited a reaction to oranges. In fact, she enjoys orange juice on a regular basis to no ill effect. Generally, processing or cooking the fruit removes most of the allergen… this is not the case with peanuts and tree nuts, according to her allergist.

    Thinking I’d just go to the source for information, I sent the following inquiry to Blue Moon via their website:

    Good morning,
    I’m curious as to whether any of the beers available in your Brewmaster’s Spring Sampler Pack (specifically the Valencia Grove Amber) contain peanut extract, or anything made from peanuts or tree nuts.
    Thank you,
    Paige Vest

    –and I received this response this morning:

    ​On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 8:26 AM, Blue Moon Online wrote:
    Thank you for contacting Blue Moon.
    We appreciate your interest in our products. Our Blue Moon Belgian White beers are all brewed with wheat. No other Blue Moon product contains wheat or any other known allergen.
    Thanks again for contacting Blue Moon.
    Sincerely,
    Blue Moon Brewing Company Consumer Affairs Department
    Ref: Case#N22140196

    The Fun Dip candy she consumed a small amount of is nut free and the only allergen statement on the packaging pertains to egg and wheat. My daughter isn’t allergic to egg or wheat, and has had other Blue Moon products in the past. She has never had the Valencia Grove, however, and when she did, she experienced a bad allergic reaction.

    Do you have any information that might be helpful to me in determining if the existence of allergens is at all a possibility? I’d appreciate anything you could tell me!

    Paige Vest

  32. If you want “pure” beer, buy imported German beer. Make sure it’s imported from Germany. Some beers like Becks Sapphire are actually made in the US. The Germans have a law called reinheinsgebot or the German beer purity law. Only the basic ingredients can be used.

    Other than that, make your own. Then you control what goes into it. I recently made a couple batches of Belgian strong golden ale. It ended up at between 9 and 10% alcohol. The downside is it takes 6 to 8 months brewing time and another 3 or 4 months for bottle conditioning. If you give it enough time, it tastes like Duvel. If you’re impatient, it tastes more like Orval.

    Budweiser has used rice in their recipe for years.

    Making your own beer is now legal in all 50 states. They even sell little starter kits in Bed, Bath and Beyond. The beer is the beyond part.

  33. These sleazy devils have definately done something to all alcoholic beverages, not just beer. I’ve noticed from doing a lot of reading along with my own personal experience (not a heavy drinker) that ANY type of alcohol today has zero affect on me. I used to be able to drink one beer or one glass of wine and get a nice warm fuzzy buzz from it. Now (after over 5 years of complete abstinence from my previous social drinking) I can drink an entire bottle (large bottle of rum, tequila, wine, etc) and get NOTHING but a slight groggy feeling. Same with beer. Nothing but grogginess. These devils are ruining everything. I believe this FrankenBrew they are manufacturing today only works on the “monkey brain” segment of the population (Rheesus monkey positive bloodtypes which are abou 80 percent now). The 20% of (Jacob/Israel’s offspring) or Rheesus Monkey NEGATIVE (Rh neg) bloodtypes are being targeted here. Their witches brew does not affect us or “work” on us. That’s just what I discern is happening. Of course you won’t be able to find anything on Google but a bunch of gaslighting nonsense projecting the blame on you: “Oh you are an alcoholic your tolerance is high” etc etc. BULL CRAP. THESE BASTARDS HAVE DONE SOMTHING TO THE ALCOHOL!! IT IS NOT THE SAME AS IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO.

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