ST. LOUIS, Missouri, March 18, 2002 (ENS) - Two shareholders of beer giant Anheuser-Busch want the brewer to identify and label all of its products that may contain genetically engineered ingredients.

The proposal is one of three items that shareholders will vote on at Anheuser-Busch's annual meeting April 24 in suburban St. Louis. The company recommends that shareholders vote against the proposal.

Budweiser and Bud Light are brewed around the world using ingredients that are not derived from biotechnology, Anheuser-Busch said in a statement.

A mug of beer, not an Anheuser-Busch product (Photo credit unknown)

Some of the brewer's other beers, sold mainly in North America, are made using corn purchased from the U.S. corn commodity market, the company acknowledges.

The Camilla Madden Charitable Trust of Adrian, Michigan, which owns 25,950 shares of Anheuser-Busch, and Virginia Lee Clinch of Napa, California, who owns 13,960 shares, submitted the proposal, according to the company's proxy statement that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission March 12.

A similar proposal was defeated last year by more than 96 percent of the shares voted, Anheuser-Busch said in the proxy statement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have each determined that approved biotech crops, such as corn, are as safe for consumption as traditional crops because they are substantially the same, the company said.

But a new review by the National Research Council released February 21, criticizes government regulations now in place to protect the public and the environment from potential harmful effects of genetically engineered crops.

Calling the regulations "inadequate," the council, which helps advise the federal government on scientific issues, urged the Bush administration to do a better job of screening these crops - both before and after they are planted.

"USDA has substantially improved its regulation of transgenic plants, but the process could be improved further by soliciting greater public input, enhancing scientific peer review, and more clearly presenting the data and methods behind regulatory decisions," said committee chair Fred Gould, a professor of entomology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Allergy sufferers are concerned that the foreign proteins being gene-spliced into foods such as corn have never been eaten by humans before or sufficiently tested for their safety.

Anheuser-Busch products and labeling meet all requirements set by food and beverage safety authorities, and forcing the company to label its products would be inaccurate, the brewer said.

Genetically engineered corn (Photo courtesy Monsanto)

The deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, and protein are the only parts of the biotech corn that are genetically modified, the company said, but the DNA and protein are substantially removed or destroyed during the brewing process.

That occurs whether the DNA and protein are genetically engineered or traditional, Anheuser-Busch said.

The company did not identify which of its beers contain corn, but many companies are engaged in the practice of cutting the barley with rice or corn, which are known as adjuncts, according to Beer World's "A Short History of Beer." These beers ferment more completely and have less residual sweetness, and less aftertaste.

The Beer Info Source website explains the process this way. "In an effort to boost profit margins and still be acceptable to the broadest possible market, the mega-brewers have resorted to using cheaper adjuncts, like corn and rice, instead of all barley malt. The resulting less-sweet beer doesn't need as much balancing bitterness, so they cut back on hops to save money and to make the end-product innocuous to the casual drinker. The change has been a gradual one, taking place in small increments over many years, so that most consumers would not notice the difference. These practices are followed up by huge, multi-media, marketing campaigns that attempt to sell brand image rather than beer flavor."

In its proxy statement Anheuser-Busch says the company believes voluntary labeling of our products "would be inaccurate and not scientifically sound for two reasons."

"First, since the United States corn supply is generally not segregated between biotech and non-biotech corn, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the company to know whether or to what degree the corn it uses has been enhanced through biotechnology. Second, any corn DNA and protein that may have been genetically modified are substantially removed or destroyed by the brewing process. Forcing us to label our products as possibly having a 'biotech ingredient' would be inaccurate."

Barley, one of the four main ingredients in beer, can be genetically engineered. This bioengineered barley carries a gene that may help the plants resist attack by barley yellow dwarf virus. (Photo courtesy USDA Agricultural Research Service)

In support of their request, the shareholders point out that, international markets for genetically engineered (GE) foods are threatened by extensive resistance, and that many of Europe’s larger food retailers have committed to removing GE ingredients from their store brand products, as have some U.S. retailers.

In the UK, the shareholders say, three fast-food giants — McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC — are eliminating GE soy and corn ingredients from their menus.

McCain Foods of Canada, Gerber Products, and Frito Lay, a division of Pepsico, are held up to Anheuser-Busch as examples of companies that are eliminating genetically engineered foods from their products.

"Since fall of 2000, hundreds of millions have been spent by food companies in recalling food containing GE corn not approved for human consumption," the shareholders say. They are referring to the recall of Starlink corn, a variety genetically engineered by Aventis CropScience to produce its own pesticide. Starlink is not approved for human consumption because it may be a human food allergen.

In 2000, Last year, the nonprofit organization Genetically Engineered Food Alert showed that StarLink had contaminated the human food supply, forcing the recall of more than 300 food products and costing farmers, food processors and the grain industry millions of dollars in lost profit.

But Anheuser-Busch stands on its safety record. "Over our history of 150 years, our company has been known for its commitment to providing the highest quality beers. As part of this dedication, the company has strict standards for ingredients. The company always has and always will sell only products that meet our high quality and safety standards."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved.