Greenpeace: Genetically Altered Rice in Budweiser
Rice used by Anheuser-Busch Cos. to brew Budweiser beer is tainted with an experimental, genetically engineered rice strain, according to an analysis released yesterday by the environmental organization Greenpeace. Three of four samples of unprocessed rice from the beer maker’s mill in Arkansas showed the presence of the strain, Bayer LL601, Greenpeace said.
Doug Muhleman, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president of brewing, acknowledged in a prepared statement that US-grown long-grained rice “may have micro levels” of a genetically engineered protein called Liberty Link, but added that the protein is “substantially removed or destroyed” during the brewing of beer sold domestically.
The St. Louis company said the rice strain “is fully approved” by federal regulators, who deemed it “perfectly safe for human consumption.”
Muhleman said Greenpeace’s “false and defamatory” allegations came as retaliation for the company’s spurning Greenpeace’s call to boycott US farmers.
“We stand in support of US farmers, who are partners with us in the quality of our products,” he said in a statement. “Greenpeace recently asked us to join their advocacy campaign on genetically modified crops. We refused their calls to boycott US farmers, and they are now retaliating.”
In its marketing materials, Anheuser-Busch highlights such “all-natural” ingredients as barley malt, hops, water, and yeast in Budweiser, one of the world’s top-selling beers. The company says it adds rice to give Budweiser its crisp taste, clarity, and brilliance.
Greenpeace’s Doreen Stabinsky, however, said US consumers have a right to know that genetically modified rice is used to create their beer. To that end, the group has cobbled together an off-color YouTube video, “Wassup With Your Beer?” The one-minute, 16-second video closes with a display advertisement reminiscent of a Budweiser commercial, except that it replaces the beer’s foam with a mound of rice, and notes in capital letters that the beer is made with genetically engineered rice.
Stabinsky called the Internet campaign “a popular culture way” to alert Budweiser drinkers to an unknown fact.
Jason Alström, founder of the Boston-based website BeerAdvocate.com, predicted that a “small, vocal minority” would “make a fuss” if details about genetically modified ingredients were widely publicized.
In part, that’s because that genetically engineered crops, including this rice, can generate strong emotions. Critics point to genetically engineered rice grown by Bayer CropScience, a biotech company that from 1999 to 2001 unintentionally tainted two commercial varieties of long-grain rice.
“Mostly people that don’t drink Budweiser, yet are against g-e foods,” Alström said in an e-mail. “As for your typical Bud drinker, I doubt they would care or even know what g-e food actually is.”
© 2007 The Boston Globe
Don’t buy unlabeled beer or other drinks. Go organic.
Think globally, drink locally - support the microbrewries or brewpubs in your region. It is more expensive, but it sure tastes better.
I concur.
“Liberty Link”? That sounds like a scary name. Shudder~
Some of these small breweries are making great batches of beer. Try Dogfish Head or Ommegang and you will never have another Bud. Support your local brewery.
I’m going to grow me some organic hops for those micro breweries here in Oregon. No damn GM rice, ever, anywhere. It contaminates real rice. Not only that, they now have GM “golden” rice that has human genes in it. They were run out of California for their test plots. I think this rice is now being tested in Kansas. YUCK!!
I’m serious about the hops though…..
Hey, anyone inclined to drink that crap is beyond help already. A beer drinker drinks beer, not crap. Indeed, drink from your local brewery and enjoy the flavor and body. If you want water, don’t buy Budweiser, pour a glass from the kitchen tap. It’ll taste a lot better. How to quickly tell the difference? If it looks like what comes out of you BEFORE you drink it, stay away from it. It isn’t beer. Among other things, beer is brewed. It takes days to do it right, not an hour or two as the folks at Coors once told me.
Why can’t U.S. companies be required to list ingredients in beer? I’ve long suspected that some of these beers have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, in addition to GM ingredients, but there’s no way to prove it without the ingredients listed.
Since few bars have organic beer, what beer can I drink when I go out with friends? This pisses me off so much, because the few times that I go out I want to have fun, not worry about this shit.
Real beer shouldn’t have rice in it to begin with…. Of course a giant corporation like anhauser-busch is going to cut as many corners as possible to reduce costs. Budweiser is as much beer as “American Cheese” is cheese.
This has got to be the silliest story to have appeared in CD in, oh, weeks.
Beer has DNA in it????? OHMYFUCKINGGOD!!! DNA!!!
Hey, guess what? Beer has ALCOHOL in it.
And alcohol, besides being depressive, work-impairing, judgement-impairing, sex-impairing, accident-causing, violence-causing, addictive, toxic and damaging to the liver, brain and other fairly important parts of the body, is also the most important dietary carcinogen, by a large factor. Ethyl alcohol is a cancer-causing chemical, and when you drink you consume it in relatively ENORMOUS quantities.
Besides, Bud tastes like piss anyway.
So go ahead, munch your organic veggies and wash them down with your favorite organic microbrew. The alcohol in that natural beer is maybe a million times more likely to kill you than all the pesticides and additives in all the junk food you could eat in a lifetime, but at least there won’t be any FRANKENSTEIN DNA in your belly. Burrrp!
Phucking CEO’s again! No wonder I have so many health problems! I drank that Frankenbeer for two years and now I have gout and other ailments.
Natural beer in moderation is good for you. Egyptians brewed it. The alcohol thins out the blood and reduces plaque build up (no it’s not just red wine anymore.) Source: Numerous studies New England Journal of Medicine and Science articles. (hopefully these studies weren’t funded by the beer giants….)
Pop Quiz:
What are the leading causes of death in the U.S?
Answer:
1. Heart Attacks
2. Cancer
3. Stroke
Two of these can be caused by plaque buildup in the cardiovascular system. The second one comes from unstable chit like splicing genes that your colon and immune system never evolved with.
Nobody knows what will happen if you eat this Franken-rice residue for ten years because it hasn’t been around in humans that long.
We ought to just close the rubber-stamp FDA down. They’re completely useless. Vioxx anyone?
during the viet nam war..the coalition of the peoples party,under dr.spock..boycotted budwieser,because of the ‘rice’from paddies of viet nam…and all switched to hops beer…it seems the boycott should have continued….rest in peace,dr. benjamin spock!!may a glimmerseed of the humanity you demonstrated,fall once again back to earth and take root….!
“The St. Louis company said the rice strain “is fully approved” by federal regulators, who deemed it “perfectly safe for human consumption.””
Fully approved by Federal Regulators - just like Napalm, Agent Orange and Depleated Uranium.
Big Brother sure loves We-The-People!
Tack this one up to the who gives a shit.
And wishfullthinker, don’t get drink beer because you think “the corporations” all got together and decided they want you too drink beer because somehow while in a state of drunkeness you won’t be able to make a difference? I’m sure you’re making a huge difference in the world as a sober person. Personally I think you sound like an paranoid uptight overly passionate person I wouldn’t want to hang out at the bar with anyway.
I’m a bartender who enjoys reading about the world, working, and drinking. Believe it or not people you can do all three.
And again, at no point in this article does it say anything about what the rice actually does. Just because it’s genetically engineered doesn’t mean it’s dangerous, or does it? I dont know it didn’t say anything.