SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 20 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Canarian craft beers have more traces of pesticides than industrial beers, according to a study carried out by the CSIC’s Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA), which has made a comparative analysis of 42 beers, 23 craft produced and sold in the Canary Islands and 19 Canarian and Spanish industrialists.
Probably, they point out from the IPNA-CSIC, this is due to the fact that the filtration and pasteurization used by industrial breweries can eliminate residues from the final product, while craft beers tend not to filter or pasteurize their products.
In line with this finding, they detail that health-related claims about the greater naturalness and quality of craft beers can be questioned in the case of pesticide residues.
The report also highlights that the only beer with no waste of any kind was certified organic, showing that in this case, certification could guarantee consumers that they are drinking a beer without waste.
In any case, the authors of the report, led by Eva Parga and Pablo Alonso and in which scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Institute of Biomedical Research in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), indicate that this hypothesis requires research that compares organic and conventional beers.
The results of the study have been led by the magazine ‘Toxicology Reports’ and in relation to the mycotoxin profile, the most outstanding finding was the fact that the craft beers did not present any of the mycotoxins analysed.
However, all industrial beers were contaminated with at least one mycotoxin and almost half of the samples tested showed the presence of several mycotoxins. However, the concentrations were well below the established legal limits.
Regarding the elemental composition of the craft and conventional beers, it differed both in the order and in the concentration of the different macro and micro elements analyzed in such a way that statistically significant differences were found, with several orders of difference in the case of various elements. .
The explanation for these differences would be based on both endogenous factors (mainly the raw materials and water used) and exogenous factors (contamination from external sources and machinery from the brewery).
NO HIGH LEVELS
Despite everything, the levels of most of the elements remained within the ranges indicated in the bibliography and none of toxicological interest showed elevated levels.
The authors of the article point out that these results are of potential interest to brewers, since the presence of these compounds affects the quality and processing of the product, from its preparation to its storage.
Information on the nutritional and toxicological profile of beer is also important to consumers as it reassures them that both conventional and craft beer are safe alcoholic beverages that largely meet legal requirements.
In the opinion of the researchers, it is necessary to establish, both in the European Union and internationally, specific maximum residue limits for the presence of mycotoxins, pesticides and toxic metals in beer, since the absence of these limits hinders the development of the literature and research in this field.
In addition, its establishment would serve to avoid the commercialization of potentially contaminated beer and thus protect the consumer, they conclude.
