The criteria for a beer to qualify in this elite eight-some is for it to contain one or some of a list of ingredients, including genetically modified corn and sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, caramel colouring and even insect-based dyes.
Leading the pack is Newcastle Brown Ale. As the article states, consumer should avoid it because “the Newcastle beer has been found to contain caramel coloring. Class 3 and 4 caramel coloring is made from ammonia, which is classified as a carcinogen. ‘The one and only’ beer with cancer causing qualities.”
In actuality, Newcastle fans can probably relax because there are several errors in those few sentences alone. For one, caramel coloring is one of the most common food and beverage additives in the world. As per Wikipedia, it’s found in “brandy, rum, and whisky, chocolate-flavored confectionery and coatings, custards, decorations, fillings and toppings, potato chips, dessert mixes, doughnuts, fish and shellfish spreads, frozen desserts, fruit preserves, glucose tablets, gravy, ice cream, pickles, sauces and dressings, soft drinks (especially colas), sweets, vinegar, and more.” Caramel coloring is in fact so pervasive, it’s next to impossible to avoid. Viralscape’s highlighting of it in one particular brand of beer tells us all we need to know about this story.
But there’s more. The additive is not “made from ammonia,” but rather through heat treatment in the presence of the chemical. It’s a subtle but important difference: Newcastle drinkers are in fact not chugging ammonia, nor are they any more or less likely to get cancer because of it.
Caramel colour has also been deemed perfectly safe, with different acceptable usage limits in different countries. In 2011, the European Food Safety Authority – a body known for being considerably more stringent than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – tested the various types of the additive in response to concerns about their effects on children in particular. Its conclusion: “Based on all available data, the panel concluded that these caramel colours are neither genotoxic, nor carcinogenic and that there is no evidence to show that they have any adverse effects on human reproduction or for the developing child.”
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