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It may not be possible to separate out the effects of ethanol itself from the effects of the toxins and adulterants that are routinely added to alcoholic bevera
by NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
It may not be possible to separate out the effects of ethanol itself from the effects of the toxins and adulterants that are routinely added to alcoholic beverages at all stages.
You see, alcoholic beverages are shielded from most all of the FDA's labeling requirements in these United States, and so if you pick up a bottle of beer, or wine or hard liquor, they don't really have to tell you anything about what's in it, other than the proof and the general category of booze where it fits in.
Of course you have absinthe, which was notoriously adulterated with all sorts of horrible stuff and subsequently banned/regulated out of existence, but I feel like even Bud Light comes with its own profile of nasty crap, just like any other processed food you will eat. So-called "German Beer Purity Laws" can't really protect the drinker from consuming nasty adulterants alongside that sweet, sweet alcohol they need to cope with their miserable lives.
- CalRobert 3y agoWhat are you referring to? I made homebrew for a while and never needed adulterants, unless you mean finings or similar?
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoOf course you don't need them! That's the point, isn't it?
- icameron 3y agoMaybe because there are hundreds or thousands of compounds that can be produced during fermentation, higher alcohols, toxins, flavonoids, aminos, besides ethanol. It’s such a complicated biological process. Especially under home brewing conditions where many variables are not as closely controlled, sanitized, or monitored. Generally there are far more chemicals in fermented beverages, some toxic and carcinogenic to varying degrees. Many relatively harmless or even healthy too.
- CalRobert 3y agoOK but something that arises during fermentation doesn't seem like it meets the description "adulterant". Maybe I'm being semantic.
- PeterStuer 3y ago"German Beer Purity Laws can't really protect the drinker from consuming nasty adulterants" Can you expand on this? I was under the impression that non-export beer brewed in Germany according to their "reinheitsgebod" did not contain additives.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoThere have been plenty of non-German beer brewers who hide behind the so-called "beer purity laws" to claim some cachet for themselves. In America they tout themselves as adhering to these laws, which is sort of nonsensical if you think about it, because how could they be prosecuted or sued for breaking them? They are not in Germany; perhaps the brewing occurs in Germany and the product is exported from there? I don't know. Anyway, it's just one of those examples of corporate hypocrisy that the FDA/USDA doesn't really require them to label any ingredients at all, and they could put anything in there -- not saying that they do, of course, but we have no actual guarantees that they don't.
- randomdata 3y agoOf course, it is a big world out there with health agencies that do require indication of "what's in it", so we can easily determine what is in a product like Bud Light sold on the global scale. What in Bud Light are you referring to?
- jghn 3y ago"Of course you have absinthe, which was notoriously adulterated with all sorts of horrible stuff" In general the claims of Absinthe having a special intoxicating effect had more to do with the ABV.