When it comes to knowing the ingredients in my favorite brewed beverages, my stance has been the following: avoid, avoid, and avoid some more. Why? Because ignorance is bliss. So is Corona with lime.
You see, I have been ignoring this topic on purpose for quite a while, and the time for reckoning has arrived. Throughout pregnancy it was easily avoided because of course I wasn’t partaking in alcohol fueled adult fun, but now…le sigh.
Prompted by a Facebook post entitled “8 Beers That You Should Stop Drinking Immediately,” I decided to do a little painful digging. It’s no surprise that what I found was not good. Not good at all. And that Corona with lime? Not so full o’ bliss. As it turns out, most domestic beers are positively jam packed with GMO ingredients, such as HFCS, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, and corn. Aside from the GMO’s, they also contain myriad chemical additives that are also known carcinogens.
According to an article on the naturalnews.com website, here is the GMO skinny:
- High Fructose Corn Syrup (Guinness – unable to provide an affidavit for non-GMO proof)
- Corn syrup (Miller Light, Coors, Corona, Fosters, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Stripe)
- Dextrose (Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch Light, Michelob Ultra
- Corn (Red Stripe, Miller Coors Brand, Anheuser-Busch Brands)
The same article lists the following chemical ingredients as legal to use in American beer:
- Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – alcohol is already addictive with some people, but with MSG?! Holy smokes.
- Propylene Glycol (an ingredient found in anti-freeze)
- Calcium Disodium EDTA (made from formaldehyde, sodium cayanide, and Ethylenediamine)
- Many different types of sulfites and anti-microbial preservatives (linked to allergies and asthma)
- Natural Flavors (can come from anything natural including a beavers anal gland)
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- GMO Sugars – Dextrose, Corn Syrup
- Caramel Coloring (Class III or IV made from ammonia and classified as a carcinogen)
- FD&C Blue 1 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
- FD&C Red 40 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
- FD&C Yellow 5 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
- Insect-Based Dyes: carmine derived from cochineal insects to color their beer.***
- Animal Based Clarifiers: Findings include isinglass (dried fish bladder), gelatin (from skin, connective tissue, and bones), and casein (found in milk)
- Foam Control: Used for head retention; (glyceryl monostearate and pepsin are both potentially derived from animals)
- BPA (Bisphenol A is a component in many can liners and it may leach into the beer. BPA can mimic the female hormone estrogen and may affect sperm count, and other organ functions.)
I know, I know…this is bad news. Very bad news. How will I ever sit on a beach again without my beloved Corona?
The good news is that there are, in fact, beers available that do not contain all that horsehockey. According to foodbabe.com, the following appear to be a-okay:
- Sierra Nevada
- Heineken
- Amstel Light
- most German beers
- Craft and Microbrew beers
- Certified Organic beers (duh…)
My 2 cents: seeing as Trader Joe’s proprietary products contain no GMO’s or harmful chemicals, I have reason to believe that their own beer should be fine. However, they have been known to add Carrageenan to things, so there’s always that possibility.
***I could personally care less if companies use insect-based dyes, as they are non-chemical in origin and as far as I can tell have never been linked to cancer, asthma, or any other disorder. I’d much rather bite a bug than some crapolla conceived in a lab. Ditto the uproar over fish bladder in Guinness, which is traditionally used in the British Ale industry and should really only be a problem for strict Vegans.
Also, if interested, there is an article “debunking” the original “8 Beers” article on some blog called Times Union: “Debunking 8 Beers That You Should Stop Drinking Immediately.” It basically states the usual: GMO’s are fine and chemicals? Welp, they’re just fine too! In the words of Bill Maher: it’s a fun, simple world these people live in.
clean for baby B 