Food Blogger’s Petition Asks Brewers to Disclose Beer Ingredients

12 June 2014 --- A high-profile food blogger has launched a petition to encourage beer companies to list their ingredients. Vani Hari, of blog ‘FoodBabe’ has started an online campaign urging companies such as Anheuser-Busch (which makes Budweiser) and MillerCoors (brewer of Coors Light), to disclose the full list of ingredients in each product, for consumer to see.

Hari states that beer contains a “long list of controversial additives”, and she said she has found some beers sold by the two brewing giants contain Propylene Glycol, which is a component in aeroplane de-icing liquids (in brewing it is used to control the head on beers); isinglass, which is a firming agent made from the bladders of fish, and also high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and stabilisers, which have been linked to intestinal inflammation.

“We know more about what’s in a bottle of Windex and Coca Cola than we do about one of the world’s most popular rinks – BEER!,” she stated. Hari is calling for the two brewing giants to post the ingredients online. “Doing this won’t require any confusing, time-consuming government involvement,” she said. “And posting the full list of ingredients won’t cost them any money either. In fact it’s probably a good thing since it will attract even more people to their websites and show consumers that they care about the quality of their products.”

Consumer research organization, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is reported to have praised the petition. “Ingredients like propylene glycol alginate, Red 40, caramel coloring, and others should certainly be listed on labels in case consumers are concerned about allergens or simply troubled by beers that contain a raft of additives,” the organization said. 

Hari stated that she is not asking the brewers to change their labels, or their formula. “The secret recipe can remain secret while still disclosing the ingredients – just like Coca Cola has done for years – this won’t hurt their business – only help it by being honest with consumers who expect more of companies as large and prominent as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors.”

So far her petition has gathered more than 24,000 signatures, along with some major news coverage.

Earlier this year Hari began a petition against Subway to remove from its bread the chemical azodicabonamide – which is also found in non-food products such as shoe rubber. The activity resulted in a widespread uproar of 75,000 signatures on the petition, which then led to an announcement from the sandwich chain that the ingredient would be removed from the four bread types that were found to contain the chemical.