# Do imported beers have to comply to quality and safety standards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915 "2013-07-08T04:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/21 "2013-07-08T20:20:12Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > St. Pauli Girl Non-Alcoholic also claims to be brewed under the German Purity Law of 1516, and it says “malt beverage” right on the label! 😕 If the legal ingredients were used and just fermented to below .05% why would that be a violation? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/22 "2013-07-08T20:55:34Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 😕 If the legal ingredients were used and just fermented to below .05% why would that be a violation? Non-alcoholic beer is almost always brewed to completion and the alcohol is then removed. Shouldn’t make a difference in terms of the purity law, though, if it’s made from the legal ingredients (the original law mentioning only hops, barley, water.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/23 "2013-07-08T21:02:23Z")
> [@tuna](#): > > Glass beer bottle recycling is the standard, legally promoted practice in several european countries so it can definitely be done safely. [Canadian beer bottles are reused as well.](http://www.brewers.ca/en/our-bottle) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/24 "2013-07-08T21:05:55Z")
(Although I suppose there might be some sort of distinction between “non-alcoholic malt beverage” and “non-alcoholic beer” that implies the first is made with a very quick ferment, while the latter is fermented out and the alcohol is removed, but I can’t find a source that says this is the case. I’m not entirely sure fermenting it to 0.5% and then killing the fermentation would make any sense. You’d have a syrupy sweet beverage on your hands if you did it that way. (Try something like Malta, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/25 "2013-07-08T21:22:27Z")
> [@tuna](#): > > Glass beer bottle recycling is the standard, legally promoted practice in several european countries so it can definitely be done safely. I was in the Czech Republic this past Fall, one of the highest beer consuming countries per capita. One thing you’ll note when you walk down the beer aisle in a supermarket is that all the beers are in large glass bottles, not in cans. About a third of the take-home price of the beer from the supermarket is in the deposit that you have to put down in the bottles, and then there is an automated machine at the front of the store that you can feed your empty bottles into to receive the refund on your deposit on your next trip. So they take beer bottle recycling vary seriously there. Nitpick: glass beer bottles are commonly recycled in the US as well. However, they’re not, typically, reused and refilled but instead sorted, melted and reformed into new bottles. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/26 "2013-07-08T21:31:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Non-alcoholic beer is almost always brewed to completion and the alcohol is then removed. Shouldn’t make a difference in terms of the purity law, though, if it’s made from the legal ingredients (the original law mentioning only hops, barley, water.) There are methods of controlling carbohydrates and thus limiting alcohol creation, but the way you describe is used the most. What I don’t buy is from [this](http://www.examiner.com/article/beer-101-how-is-non-alcoholic-beer-made) cite that says _“Amazingly, it is still possible for some people to get drunk from non-alcoholic beer”._ Unless by “some people” they mean new born infants. The legal definition of “nonalcoholic” is anything below .05%. But most near-beers are at .04%. Which means to consume the alcoholic equivalent of a can of regular beer (5%) one would have to drink 12.5 cans (150 ounces) of near beer. Considering that the adult stomach is approximately 135 ounces, and the time it would take to consume that much would allow for previous fluid to be processed, it would be practically impossible for anyone to consume enough to reach a level of intoxication. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/27 "2013-07-08T21:34:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nitpick: glass beer bottles are commonly recycled in the US as well. However, they’re not, typically, reused and refilled. No now they’re not. But up until about the late 80’s if you wanted beer in glass you ended up hauling bottles back to the store. 5Cents per. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/28 "2013-07-08T22:00:03Z")
Did you notice the use of the word “typically” along with the use of the present tense? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/29 "2013-07-08T22:42:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Did you notice the use of the word “typically” along with the use of the present tense? Did YOU notice the line “No now they’re not” which is an agreement to you previous post? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/30 "2013-07-09T04:51:07Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > There are methods of controlling carbohydrates and thus limiting alcohol creation, but the way you describe is used the most. > > What I don’t buy is from [this](http://www.examiner.com/article/beer-101-how-is-non-alcoholic-beer-made) cite that says _“Amazingly, it is still possible for some people to get drunk from non-alcoholic beer”._ Unless by “some people” they mean new born infants. > > The legal definition of “nonalcoholic” is anything below .05%. But most near-beers are at .04%. Which means to consume the alcoholic equivalent of a can of regular beer (5%) one would have to drink 12.5 cans (150 ounces) of near beer. Considering that the adult stomach is approximately 135 ounces, and the time it would take to consume that much would allow for previous fluid to be processed, it would be practically impossible for anyone to consume enough to reach a level of intoxication. It’s 0.5% not 0.05%, so far as I can tell, but even so, that (getting drunk) seems unlikely to me. ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/31 "2013-07-09T05:16:56Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > And a lot of those “imported” beers from big companies have breweries in the US to supply that market, anyway. The ones I drink say “made in Mexico” and “made in Jamaica” (like red stripe) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/32 "2013-07-09T05:30:47Z")
Drink Nati Ice in the can. It’s Union made in the USA so you can be sure it’s safe. Cannot vouch for flavor, but it is quite…“effective” at 5.9% ABV…no chance of glass or metal shards… ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/33 "2013-07-09T05:32:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s 0.5% not 0.05%, so far as I can tell, but even so, that (getting drunk) seems unlikely to me. Whoops.:smack: You’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/34 "2013-07-09T05:35:50Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > [Canadian beer bottles are reused as well.](http://www.brewers.ca/en/our-bottle) Indeed. I spent a number of years as an employee of Ontario’s Beer Store sorting and preparing empties to be returned to the brewer for washing and refilling. And they were refilled; you could tell the difference between a brand-new bottle and one that had been refilled a few times (the latter developed white “wear marks” on the bottle’s shoulders). ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/35 "2013-07-09T05:35:52Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I’m not really sure why you’d single out Jamaica or Mexico. Red Stripe and Corona? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/36 "2013-07-09T05:54:57Z")
> [@Lazlo](#): > > Red Stripe and Corona? Anybody who drinks those two beers deserves whatever happens to them. ---
**Author:** ![NorthernBiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@NorthernBiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorthernBiker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/37 "2013-07-09T07:40:30Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I too questi:dubious:n how they could have the old labels if they were bottling in St. Louis. I noticed back in January the labels said “Product of USA”. From what I remember the article basically stated they didn’t go out of their way to mark the bottles domestic, not that they were using old German labels, just ones that look similar. Basically playing on people’s expectations of Becks still being an import. - I reread my initial post it wasn’t very clear, I apologize for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/38 "2013-07-09T13:13:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nitpick: glass beer bottles are commonly recycled in the US as well. However, they’re not, typically, reused and refilled but instead sorted, melted and reformed into new bottles. I’m pretty sure if you compared refillable and non-refillable bottles you’d see the refillable ones have thicker walls and bottoms. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/39 "2013-07-09T16:14:14Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 😕 If the legal ingredients were used and just fermented to below .05% why would that be a violation? Yeah, I guess that is true, but it seems weird seeing it on something they’re not even legally allowed to call beer. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915/40 "2013-07-11T17:57:50Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Yeah, I guess that is true, but it seems weird seeing it on something they’re not even legally allowed to call beer. What law says that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-imported-beers-have-to-comply-to-quality-and-safety-standards/662915.md?page=3)