So I just came across this article on the Globe and Mail:
Feel free to read it in its entirety, but to summarize for you: A variety of groups want better labelling on food products, to clarify potentially dangerous ingredients for allergy sufferers. For example, potentially fatal sesame seeds can be grouped under the word “seasonings”. Another example is clarifying that a beer contains barley/wheat/rye (depending on the brew), which contains gluten. Big brewers are fighting it, on the grounds that some small brewers use screened-on labels on their bottles, and a re-label would require the purchase of all new bottles.
Now, on the face of it, this seems silly. I was raised with a celiac grandfather, and my wife is now nearly totally gluten-free. Pretty well everybody who can’t consume gluten knows the three obvious foods that are now out are bread, pasta and beer. I spent most of my teenaged years with a potentially fatal allergy to milk. Even at 13, I was capable of identifying potential ingredients that could be problematic. So it does seem a little stupid to make such a big fuss over the labelling of such things. Right? Well, perhaps, and perhaps we live in a protectionist society.
But here’s another side to the argument: Forget about allergies. Do you know what you need to make a beer? Water, fermentable sugar (generally in the form of malted barley, malted or unmalted wheat, rye, or a variety of other grains), hops and yeast. If you use airborne yeast, you can make beer with only three ingredients. I’m told that in Ontario, you can produce a beer with up to 109 different ingredients (looking for a source on this, help anyone?), and not list any of them on the label. Some of these, like Irish Moss or Isinglass Finings are totally normal in brewing, others to expedite fermentation or promote head-retention are truly frightening. When you drink a glass of Canadian or Blue, believe me, you’re drinking a variety of “other” stuff than good old fashioned beer. Not only that, but a lot (maybe even all) the fermentable sugar comes from barley and corn extract, not the grain itself. Compared to a lovely microbrew, like a Black Oak 10 Bitter Years, or a Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale, this ingredient list would make all but the most scientifically-inquisitive trigger-shy. And the big guys know it. Would their sales cease if they had to label their ingredients? No, but it certainly wouldn’t help. Ever try to get the ingredients in a Big Mac? When you make billions selling the public garbage, it pays to keep the garbage vague.
Suddenly it seems like maybe, just maybe, their interest isn’t in the poor little micro-brewer after all.
And to add some weight to that statement, here’s another thought. Number of Ontario microbrewers using screened labels: 2 (that I can think of, feel free to add to the list, also we could do with a National list). Steamwhistle, who uses all screened bottles (in addtion to kegs and cans), and Great Lakes, who uses screened bottles for their bombers (Make that three: Mill St does too. Thanks Greg!). And I guess, most growlers have a screened label too. Most micros are brewing into glued-label bottles (often ISBs) or cans. For those few who don’t, and can’t afford a one-time cost to change over their bottles, what would stop them from doing what many beers brought into the LCBO do, stick a little laser-printed Avery (or knock-off) label on it that says “contains gluten” or whatever. On top of that, this is a federal law. It’s going to be rolled-out over a pretty significant period. They’re not going to say “Hey little guys, all your beers need to be re-labelled by next week. Including stuff already on shelves”. There will be due time for current labels and product to be changed over. And even those hardy Steamwhistle bottles, with their higher glass content and screened label, still have an expected lifespan. Going forward, new bottle purchases can be screened labels with the new information on it, right?
Come on AB-InBev, Sapporo and M/C. Just say you don’t want people to know what they’re drinking. Or blame somebody else. Don’t turn to the very companies that have you sweating about sales, looking for a defense for your lousy product.
Agree?
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