"German Beers Contain Plastic"

Really? You need help with the point?

 

glass particles are scary but I'd think the other plastics and insect bits wouldn't cause to much harm but I'm no expert. I trust wienstephaner and will always drink their beer mmmmm vitus

 

Sure. I don't see the relevance of an allowable level of biodegradable substances to a possible concern about non-biodegradable substances such as plastic microfibers (or Mercury for which there is also an allowable level standard).

For example, as pointed out above, any hazardous germs, etc. will be taken care of in the boil and by fermentation and alcohol. (There is a very interesting chart for Lambics showing the amount of E-coli present during the first few months of fermentation that are eventually killed off during fermentation.)

However, the presence of a variety of plastic microfibers which seem to be unaffected by the boil, fermentation, or alcohol and which, based on the reports referred to in the article, are also present in the tap water seems to me to be a different issue entirely.

So yes, help me out. I'm slow. I don't see the relevance of allowable levels of bio products destroyed or controlled by the food preparation processes to evaluting the impact or importance of the presence of micro plastic fibers present in the beer in roughly the same proportions as those found in ordinary tap water (see the orignal published article for source).

 

Is there a USDA standard for inorganic material like plastic fiber/fragments/granular materials?

Cheers!

 

Did you mean Udder?

 

I think the point was that the amount is negligible and that current regulation would most likely also control for such factors if their content was high enough.

 

So you know there is a standard determining "negligible" and an existing regulation in place? A pointer would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Well, my point was more that if there were instances in the past (or if we had reliable data to suggest) where such inorganic materials would have proven to be damaging (in a certain combination) that current regulation would reflect that with certain standards in these regards. I can't tell you whether there is any specific U.S. legislation in regards to this specific topic as it's somewhat vague. I know of regulation regarding certain polymers and their use as well as metals (both in the E.U. and the U.S.).

I'm not sure there is any regulation on such a small scale, particularly with materials and doses of materials that don't seem to indicate any harm to the product or people ingesting the product and the potential hassle that testing for these would bring.

 

Either US or EU regulation would be fine.

But I don't find yet any research one way or the other on whether these particles are harmful in some amount or not. They could be totally harmless, some are. But the finding that these multiple varieties of micro fibers are so pervasive seems new enough that there may be no such research and neither allowable amounts nor regulations governing their presence. Remember that kids were allowed to have and play with Mercury for years before the hazards were demonstrated and allowable amounts in the food chain established, not to mention the regulations being put in place.

 

Not to mention the highly dangerous chemical dihydrogen monoxide. Thousands of people around the world die every year from aspirating this chemical. 100% of people who drink it, even in small amounts, eventually die.

 

As an environmental consultant, let me I assure you pretty much everything you eat, drink, breathe, touch, etc. is "contaminated" with something. The real measure is if the contamination is a level that can potentially cause harm.

 

Drinking Water Standards in our state of Pennsylvania, which beer would meet at the very minimum: http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/...agement/RegsStandardsResources/pa-mcls_06.pdf

(EDIT: if you really want to dig into PA's drinking water standards... http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/drinking_water_regulations%2C_standards___resources/21161#Standards )

PA standards are modeled after the federal USEPA standards. I can't speak to the FDA standards or German water quality standards, but being a developed country they are probably fairly similar to the US.

 

Dig? Want? Probably not. Do you have a sense of whether there is anything about these multiple varieties of micro fibers etc and if they are addressed there?

BTW, thanks for those links.

 

So now that you all realize that the beer doesn't contain anything that the drinking water doesn't contain, and the headline is "Don't Drink the Beer", keep that in mind the next time you hear about a "study" on the news. The conclusions, particularly as reported by the media often have little or nothing to do with the data collected, and a whole lot more to do with who paid for the study.

 

Yep. Even too much water in too short a period of time.

 

Yep, the real culprit is the author of that title. The paper authors don't say that or even express that opinion the paper.

 

"plastic, skin, glass, and other unsavory items"

The new Reinheitsgebot?

 

I assumed most breweries use a reverse osmosis system, guess I'm wrong.

 

I had a plastic cup once and it contained German Beer. Now that's freaky.

 

Short answer: there aren't any standards
Longer answer: Standards are based on specific compounds not mixtures like plastic polymer mixtures. However most plastics in the microscopic levels discuused would pass through people with no effect.