Beer : Health and Nutrition

The Composition of Beer in Relation to Nutrition and Health 117
bakery products and breakfast cereals, but that for these, as for products such as beer, the
risks were acceptably low provided proper precautions are taken, such safety measures
hinging around proper storage conditions in respect of moisture content and temperature.
Pesticides are effective (providing the intention is not to deliver a strictly ‘organic’ crop),
such materials being thoroughly screened for health and environmental impacts. Surveys
show that the pesticides used in the production of malting barley do not nd their way
into malt in levels exceeding the recommended maximum (Baxter 2003).
Nitrate is present in barley (and therefore malt), hops and water (Baxter 1988). Less
is found in hop extracts. The concern with nitrate re ects its role in the production of the
potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. However, levels of such compounds in beer have
dropped enormously from the time that they were rst reported in beer at concentrations
of up to 2–10 µg/L (Spiegelhalder et al. 1979). The precautions taken in malting and
brewing (see Chapter 3) meant that within short order the levels had been lowered to
an average of 0.2 µg/L (Klein et al. 1982).
Two of the most recent food safety ‘scares’ have revolved around 3-monochloropropanol
(MCPD – see www.ifst.org/hottop37.com) and acrylamide (go to http:
//www.europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out131_en.pdf). MCPD is formed in many
foods by the reaction of chloride with lipids at high temperatures and has been shown
to be a carcinogen in laboratory animal studies. Soy sauce and hydrolysed vegetable
proteins were agged up as especial concerns; however, there is a risk in any foodstuff
that contains the key precursors and which involve baking, boiling, drying, grilling and
toasting in their production. Particular focus in the brewing industry was on certain of
the speciality coloured malts that are produced with intense heating (see Baxter 2003);
however, it does not appear that the MCPD is detectable in beers produced with a
proportion of such malts.
Acrylamide, another potential carcinogen, is also produced under conditions of high
heat, from starch-rich foods. Clearly this must mean that any cereal, pulse, tuber, etc.
employed in food production presents a risk. However the World Health Organization
tabulation of values cited at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out131_
en.pdf reveals the acrylamide level in beer to be at the limit of detection using current
methodology (Table 5.16).
Beer as a ‘treat’
For the vast number of years that have elapsed since beer was rst brewed this drink was
regarded as a staple part of the diet. Today, rightly or wrongly, it is much more regularly
regarded as a provider of pleasure and not as an integral component of the menu. As
such – and despite evidence to the contrary that we have previously explored – it is