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glyphosate (roundup) in german beer

Posted: April 13 2016

Nooooooo! Even the Germans, with their purity laws, are sipping the sweet swill of glyphosate in their beloved beers...

Fourteen beers popular in Germany contain traces of glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer, a Munich, Germany environmental group has said. Agriculture Minister Schmidt has played down the risk for consumers.

The highest glyphosate level in one beer was almost 30 micrograms per liter, the Munich Environmental Institute said on Thursday, casting doubt on Germany's prided 500-year-old beer purity law,  which calls for beer only to be brewed from water, malt and hops.
Glyphosate is used as a herbicide around the world, including under the brand name Roundup marketed by the US agriculture giant Monsanto.
Martin Häusling, a member of Germany's Green Party in the European Parliament, told the AFP news agency that the European Commission wanted in early March to extend approval for the use of glyphosate for a further 15 years.
The current license for Europe runs out in the coming European summer.
Industry denies responsibility, risk
The German DBV farm federation promptly denied responsibility, saying direct glyphosate usage on barley - turned into malt - was banned. The group, however, added that the chemical could have been sprayed on fields before sowing.
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