Carried out by the Munich Institute for the Environment, the research states that it found glyphosate in concentrations between 0.46 and 29.74 micrograms per liter, the largest amount exceeding 300 times the maximum limit – 0.1 micrograms per liter – set for What drinking water (for beer there are no maximum values), EFE and Reuters transmit.
The two news agencies mention that this information could be a strong blow to the world prestige of German beer.
The German Minister of Agriculture, Christian Schmidt, reacted immediately and gave assurances that in order to reach a dangerous amount for health, a person “should drink a thousand liters of beer a day”. “So far I have not seen anyone in Bavaria drink a thousand liters of beer. And if he drinks them, he dies not because of pesticides, but because of other causes,” he said.
For its part, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) said the situation posed no danger to consumers.
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The NGO behind the study stressed that the focus should not be on herbicide concentrations, but on the fact that such a substance, which is thought to be carcinogenic, is found in citizens’ glasses, and members of the organization have asked producers to explains “how it was possible for glyphosate to get into beer.”
This study is “absurd” and “unbelievable”, according to a statement from the German Brewers’ Federation, an organization that says it has a good quality control system and that German law in the field is demanding.
The German Farmers’ Association (DBV) also mentioned that this country has “the strictest law in the world” regarding the use of herbicides. In the opinion of this entity, the glyphosate found in beer could come from imported barley (from which malt is obtained), excluding the possibility that the substance may have been present in other raw materials used in brewing. This assumption would mainly affect France, Denmark and the United Kingdom, writes EFE.
Glyphosate is a widespread herbicide around the world, especially after it was marketed by Monsanto in the 1970s, Reuters added, adding that the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that the substance is likely to be carcinogenic to humans. . The European Food Safety Authority was of a different opinion, and the European Union is currently considering whether to renew its approval for the use of glyphosate.
Germany is the largest brewer in Europe and ranks second in the world in terms of consumption of this alcoholic beverage. The law on the purity of German beer “Reinheitsgebot” – which will turn 500 in 2016 and is one of the oldest regulations in the field of food safety – provides that beer is produced only from malt, hops, yeast and water.
In Germany there are over 1,300 breweries, which produce about 5,000 varieties of this drink.
The brands targeted by the controversial study published on Thursday (including glyphosate concentration) are: Hasseroder Pils – 29.74 lg / l; Jever Pils – 23.04 lg / l; Warsteiner Pils – 20.73 lg / l; Radeberger Pilsner – 12.01 lg / l; Veltins Pilsener – 5.78 lg / l; Oettinger Pils – 3.86 lg / l; König Pilsener – 3.35 lg / l; Krombacher Pils – 2.99 lg / l; Erdinger wheat beer – 2.92 lg / l; Paulaner white beer – 0.66 lg / l; Bitburger Pils – 0.55 lg / l; Beck’s Pils – 0.50 lg / l; Franciscan white beer – 0.49 lg / l si Augustiner Helles – 0.46 lg / l. The full list “Reinheitsgebot” was broadcast on the website www.sustainablepulse.com.
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