Beer to Last for the Ages!
If you have ever gotten drunk in China it was a first time of either Beer or Bei Jiu. When in Rome, or in this case...Beijing, right?
If you haven't heard or researched it yet, you will be reading about in this article about the chances and drawbacks to the formaldehyde content of Chinese beers in China. Many foreign beers (foreign to the west) don't make it to the west for a number of reasons, and formaldehyde content is one of them. In the past formaldehyde was used in beer to fasten the the filtration of impurities. It also turns out that allegedly formaldehyde appears naturally in the brewing process when methanol is involved. Basically, when methanol is metabolized it creates a very tiny amount of formaldehyde as a byproduct. This means there are a possible 2 sources of the formaldehyde in beer, one is intentional and the other is inevitable.
The intentional use CAN be eliminated however companies were trying to make a buck or two, I am not sure what the current situation is anymore as a lot of the research seems to come from the early 2000's and have closed off by saying measures will be taken and inspections will be conducted.
It is interesting as well that American breweries formerly cleansed cans and bottles with formaldehyde which, would inevitably be traceable in the contents since they could not remove it after. This was stopped once it was exposed. Thai beers are still scrutinized for the possibilities of also still using processing that promotes formaldehyde in their product.
The amount of formaldehyde that a consumer may ingest is of little concern in terms of health according to "professionals" but then again, somethings are just not supposed to be ingested by people at all! The levels are deemed as another "risk" that the consumer must take up on their own choice as there are these risks with fast food and tobacco products. As far as labeling products as "formaldehyde" content, and what not; that is a battle to never be won just because of the precedents that already exist. So for a customer to know if there is formaldehyde, there are two simple ways to tell,
1) How old is the bottle you are drinking (comparatively methanol based beers last longer than others)
2) Is there methanol in your beer?
3) Is the beer internationally traded and sold? If so, what countries and what are the countries policies on beer's formaldehyde content?
for question 3) that is a thing, but you need to research by country, although it is not an easy to read chart, it will be tucked away in the list of things that should be addressed by breweries as lawful actions to consider.
From my research, I have found that the west has stepped away from the use of methanol which has alleviated the risk of consumers consuming formaldehyde in their beer. Safest consumption would be to not drink Beer from suspected places that use methanol; but inevitably we will drink it, and when we do, we just need to remember in the morning, it was apart of our order.
Countries like Japan, Korea, Canada and the US (to name a few that have come up particularly) are all fighting against bad products being dished out to their people by forcing countries like...China *cough cough* to conduct regular inspections and regulate a lawful product that eliminates "risk" to the people. Regardless, that doesn't mean there are NO traces of formaldehyde, it just means there is a minuscule or "safe" amount.
Who knows, maybe sooner or later they will NEED to cremate the bodies cause they will stop decomposing-maybe that is what Chairman Mao looks so fresh...
One myth I came across as well to put your mind at ease a little bit as well was, "formaldehyde is FORMED in your body after consuming methanol", FALSE, if it were to change in your liver (where it would have to occur) it would need to be ethanol? (if i remember correctly) and also have some other chemicals present...so drink at ease but remember SNOW Inc. is by far the worst beers if you don't like feeling your head was split in half the next morning.
Yes, totally calling out CHANG-SINGHA-SNOW you buggers need to learn to do it right...
CB
If you haven't heard or researched it yet, you will be reading about in this article about the chances and drawbacks to the formaldehyde content of Chinese beers in China. Many foreign beers (foreign to the west) don't make it to the west for a number of reasons, and formaldehyde content is one of them. In the past formaldehyde was used in beer to fasten the the filtration of impurities. It also turns out that allegedly formaldehyde appears naturally in the brewing process when methanol is involved. Basically, when methanol is metabolized it creates a very tiny amount of formaldehyde as a byproduct. This means there are a possible 2 sources of the formaldehyde in beer, one is intentional and the other is inevitable.
The intentional use CAN be eliminated however companies were trying to make a buck or two, I am not sure what the current situation is anymore as a lot of the research seems to come from the early 2000's and have closed off by saying measures will be taken and inspections will be conducted.
It is interesting as well that American breweries formerly cleansed cans and bottles with formaldehyde which, would inevitably be traceable in the contents since they could not remove it after. This was stopped once it was exposed. Thai beers are still scrutinized for the possibilities of also still using processing that promotes formaldehyde in their product.
The amount of formaldehyde that a consumer may ingest is of little concern in terms of health according to "professionals" but then again, somethings are just not supposed to be ingested by people at all! The levels are deemed as another "risk" that the consumer must take up on their own choice as there are these risks with fast food and tobacco products. As far as labeling products as "formaldehyde" content, and what not; that is a battle to never be won just because of the precedents that already exist. So for a customer to know if there is formaldehyde, there are two simple ways to tell,
1) How old is the bottle you are drinking (comparatively methanol based beers last longer than others)
2) Is there methanol in your beer?
3) Is the beer internationally traded and sold? If so, what countries and what are the countries policies on beer's formaldehyde content?
for question 3) that is a thing, but you need to research by country, although it is not an easy to read chart, it will be tucked away in the list of things that should be addressed by breweries as lawful actions to consider.
From my research, I have found that the west has stepped away from the use of methanol which has alleviated the risk of consumers consuming formaldehyde in their beer. Safest consumption would be to not drink Beer from suspected places that use methanol; but inevitably we will drink it, and when we do, we just need to remember in the morning, it was apart of our order.
Countries like Japan, Korea, Canada and the US (to name a few that have come up particularly) are all fighting against bad products being dished out to their people by forcing countries like...China *cough cough* to conduct regular inspections and regulate a lawful product that eliminates "risk" to the people. Regardless, that doesn't mean there are NO traces of formaldehyde, it just means there is a minuscule or "safe" amount.
Who knows, maybe sooner or later they will NEED to cremate the bodies cause they will stop decomposing-maybe that is what Chairman Mao looks so fresh...
One myth I came across as well to put your mind at ease a little bit as well was, "formaldehyde is FORMED in your body after consuming methanol", FALSE, if it were to change in your liver (where it would have to occur) it would need to be ethanol? (if i remember correctly) and also have some other chemicals present...so drink at ease but remember SNOW Inc. is by far the worst beers if you don't like feeling your head was split in half the next morning.
Yes, totally calling out CHANG-SINGHA-SNOW you buggers need to learn to do it right...
CB
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