NEWS
HONG KONG CONSUMER WATCHDOG CALLED FOR STRICTER BEER LABELLING RULES
By Tony Zhu
22-4-2024
Source: Hong Kong Consumer Council
Hong Kong's Consumer Council called for stricter beer labelling rules after having found that six of the 30 beer brands tested have a considerable discrepancy between their advertised alcohol content and their actual levels.
The six were Young Masters 1842 Island Imperial IPA, Gweilo Lager, Yamaguchi Craft Beer Hagi Yuzu Ale, San Miguel Pale Pilsen, Marks & Spencer Strawberry & Cucumber Sour, and a wheat beer by Harbin.
The watchdog gave 11 of the tested brands a five-star rating overall, including Guinness Draught, Snow Beer, Carbon Brews Staying Alive Session IPA and Yau Pale Ale.
The council called on authorities to improve checking of alcohol labels, while suggested tightening calories labelling for beer products.
Currently, Hong Kong regulations do not require beer products with alcohol lever ranging from 1.2 percent to 10 percent to specify how many calories they contained.
Chief executive of Consumer Council, Gilly Wong Fung-han, said that as producers understate alcohol content, consumers can easily be misled and over-consume not just alcohol, but also calories as alcohol is high in energy.
The test also found that all the 30 tested brands contained biogenic amines, a by-product of the fermentation process. Excessive intake could lead to headaches, dizziness, vomiting, respiratory distress and even cerebral haemorrhaging.
According to a 2022 study published in the United States, concentrations of biogenic amines up to 100mg/kg are considered safe for consumption.
Carlsberg Danish Pilsner had the highest number of biogenic amines, with 7 different types of the substance detected, totalling 163.1mg per litre.
Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale also had higher-than recommended levels, at 173.8mg per litre.
Other brands had significantly lower levels of biogenic amines, with most falling between 5mg per litre and 20mg per litre.
Hong Kong currently has no regulations to cap the level of biogenic amines in beer products, the council called for the authorities to tighten the lax rules.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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