Brazilian beer has a lot of corn, USP research says

10/06/2012 - 15h34

Advertising

REINALDO JOSÉ LOPES

EDITOR OF "SCIENCE+HEALTH"

One of the most complete chemical analyzes already done on beer brands in Brazil and abroad gives weight to a trend that smaller studies have indicated: the big domestic brands have high amounts of corn in their composition, although the traditional raw material of the drink is barley.

They are the best-known names of the public, such as Antarctica, Brahma, Skol and Nova Schin. The analysis suggests that these brands are at the limit of the percentage of corn that national legislation allows as raw material for beer (45%) or may even have surpassed it.

The producers questioned the analysis. On the other hand, the study indicated that some beers on a small scale have the content you'd expect from a drink made with only water, barley and hops, as stated in the German tradition.

The research is signed by scientists from the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, from USP in Piracicaba, and from Unicamp (University of Campinas). The Piracicaba group, coordinated by Luiz Antonio Martinelli, had alrady studied beers before, in addition to verifying the presence of sugar cane ethanol in domestic wine.

"Nobody here is saying that the beer is worse for containing corn - in fact, I do not drink beer, only wine," says Martinelli. He also emphasizes that the work has margins of error and that the purpose was not to report that certain brands do not follow the law.

"The difference in composition is very small [in the case of those which seem to have a lot of corn]," says biologist Sylvia Mardegan, who works under the direction of Martinelli and is lead author of the study, which will come out in the scientific magazine "Journal of Food Composition and Analysis."

Moreover, she points out that only one sample of each brand was studied, and that there are variations by lot and by region of the country. On the other hand, the variety of brands (77, 49 domestic and 28 imported) helps give a broad overview of the market.

OTHER SIDE

In statements, the brewers with high content of corn indicated by the research, defended the quality of their products.

Ambev, producer of the Caracu, Antarctica, Brahma, Bohemia and Skol brands, said that "controlling the amount of barley malt is needed to get beer with characteristics tailored to the taste of Brazilian consumers: light, refreshing and with smooth body."

"The Brazilian beer industry has over a hundred years of tradition and is proud to produce the highest quality beverages. Ambev brings age-old recipes produced with the best raw materials available in the world to its millions of consumers," continued the statement.

Already Schincariol, which produces Nova Schin and Glacial, says that "it respects the research initiatives undertaken by USP, but emphasizes that the methodology used in the referenced study is not determined by the Ministry of Agriculture."

"It's interesting work, but we disagree with the results," Humberto de Lazari, industrial corporate manager of Grupo Petrópolis, which makes Crystal and Itaipava beers, told Folha.

He said that technical inaccuracies in the research would be discussed more appropriately "in a technical forum," but stressed that the company uses less than 45% of products not derived from barley in their drinks - he said he could not reveal the exact proportion.

The law does not require companies to declare the exact composition of the beers they produce on the labels.

Heineken, now responsible for Kaiser, said in a statement that "it already possessed knowledge of the publication, but found no relevance in the article because the scientific analysis has many inconsistencies."

"Among the many misconceptions in the publication, we highlight the explicit statistical sampling errors and the fact that the scientist did not consider the nitrogen isotope.

Thus, as the USP work recognizes, the use of rice could influence the numbers."

Martinelli, from USP, says he is open to talking with the companies, but affirmed trust in his methodology.

Translated by DAVE WOLIN