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Date:         Thu, 26 Aug 1999 14:43:18 EDT
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From: Jim Diamond <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      BEER
To: [log in to unmask]

JAPANESE BEERMAKERS
    While beer isn't often thought of as a health food, Japanese breweries
are apparently opting to stop using GE corn.  This from Reuters:
TOKYO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Japan's third-largest beer maker Sapporo Breweries
Ltd said on Wednesday it will stop using genetically modified (GM) corn to
make beer, after industry leader Kirin Brewery Co took the same action the
previous day.
    The story notes that the other 2 major breweries, Asahi and Suntory, are
also moving in the same direction.  The 4 companies together account for
almost the total Japanese production.  The Japanese domestic market totalled
6.21 billion liters of beer last year according to the story.  (This is an
astonishingly large amount of beer as it implies that the average Japanese
consumes his/her weight in beer every year.)
    "It is obvious that there are consumers who will never accept genetically
altered foods. We cannot ignore this reality," a Sapporo spokesman said.
The story says that Sapporo uses 50,000 tons of corn starch and corn grits
annually, most of which is from the U. S.  Kirin uses 200,000 tons.  Asahi
uses 120,000 tons of corn starch and 2,000 tons of corn grits yearly.
Suntory uses less than 10,000 tons.  Total Japanese imports of corn were 9.13
million tons for the first half of 1999, of which only 3.5% wasn't from the
U. S.
    COMMENT:  While there are large loopholes in Japan's labeling guidelines
so that soy sauce and beer were to be excluded (along with animal feed, the
largest loophole), the present action shows that the issue of GE foods is of
concern to the Japanese consumer.  While U. S. apologists often claim that
labeling is merely a protectionist ploy by some countries to limit U. S. and
Canadian agricultural imports, that clearly isn't the motivation here.

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