Well, actually GMO yeast, and I don’t really like the idea of that.
Yeesh, yet another GMO product to avoid! You know, there is a campaign here in the U.S. that anything with GMOs has to be marked as such. Now that I’ve heard that, I think I’ll jump on board. Does anybody know of any yeast that is certified organic?
I sent an email to Rahr, inquiring as to whether they’re growing GMO barley or not. I haven’t had a response from them yet. Hmmm… I’ll keep you guys updated. I was under the impression that GMO barley was off the table, for some reason.
here’s a recent thread about it. not so sure how i feel about the synthetic yeast yet…
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=118144&hilit=synthetic+yeastEven if they do succeed in making the new yeast from scratch, and I am fairly certain they will, there will be years upon years of tests and trials before anything gets out to the public.
Nobody is going to waste time and money to create a genome from scratch. It’s way too tedious to be practical. I recently wrote about GMO yeast on my blog (http://bkyeast.wordpress.com/2013/05/28 … -industry/) and personally don’t think it’s anything to be fearful of. What will end up happening is transgenic yeast with few altered traits or inserted genes.
Actually when I hear hippie cries of corporations playing with nature to make more money or that GMOs are bad, I want those people and their loved ones to stop eating wheat, soy, rye, wear cotton clothing, don’t use antibiotics such as penicillin, let diabetics die because 100% of insulin injections come from GMOs etc etc.
My hippie days (daze?) are long behind me, and I have no objection at all to GMO research …but there is plenty of good evidence that there can be potential harm involved. I’m fully aware that while I try to avoid such products, it is nearly impossible; and I’m quite sure that some of the ingredients in my brewing are GMO.
As things stand now, we’re basically deprived of choice in the matter due to lack of mandatory labeling.
I’ll be perfectly happy when the corporate big agri lobbyists are defeated (as they certainly will be) regarding their utterly bizarre objection to properly labeling GMO products as such (I’ll say it again: “what are they afraid of, and why are they spending so much money to prevent it?”).
The research can go on, they can continue to sell their stuff, but consumers should have the opportunity to exercise their right to choose to consume or avoid such products.
It’s not about banning GMO foods (as many nations have done based on genuine scientific concerns)…it’s about disclosure.
That’s not an unreasonable thing to expect.
Not at all.
[quote=“The Professor”]My hippie days (daze?) are long behind me, and I have no objection at all to GMO research …but there is plenty of good evidence that there can be potential harm involved. I’m fully aware that while I try to avoid such products, it is nearly impossible; and I’m quite sure that some of the ingredients in my brewing are GMO.
As things stand now, we’re basically deprived of choice in the matter due to lack of mandatory labeling.
I’ll be perfectly happy when the corporate big agri lobbyists are defeated (as they certainly will be) regarding their utterly bizarre objection to properly labeling GMO products as such (I’ll say it again: “what are they afraid of, and why are they spending so much money to prevent it?”).
The research can go on, they can continue to sell their stuff, but consumers should have the opportunity to exercise their right to choose to consume or avoid such products.
It’s not about banning GMO foods (as many nations have done based on genuine scientific concerns)…it’s about disclosure.
That’s not an unreasonable thing to expect.
Not at all.[/quote]
[quote=“Dimik”]…let diabetics die because 100% of insulin injections come from GMOs etc etc.[/quote]If Americans didn’t consume so much GMO corn and corn syrup, perhaps they wouldn’t have diabetes in the first place. The fact that you (apparently) wish harm on people who are likely better-informed than yourself is a little disturbing, though.
Right… yeah…
I chatted with someone from a malting company a couple years ago who was also part of the American Malting Barley Association. He said no malting varieties of barley are currently available and while maybe one day they’d exist, he said he didn’t see it in the immediate future due to the fact the the majority of brewers are opposed to the idea.
Really? I’m by no means anti-GMO as I trust the global scientific consensus and everything I’ve read, but it seems pretty easy to avoid even unlabeled. If you simply avoid non-organic heavily processed foods (which typically aren’t all that healthy anyway regardless of GMO ingredients) since they almost universally have some sort of gmo corn/soy derivative or canola/cotton oil (like potato chips) in them there’s less than two handfuls of things you need to worry about.
Beyond that all you need to avoid is non-organic zucchini/squash, papaya, corn, soy, canola/rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, beet sugar, meat (since they typically feed on corn/soy)… I’m pretty sure that’s it as far as what’s commercially available in the US. 8 things… Oh wait, alfalfa, but I think that’s only for animal feed.
Doesn’t seem all that impossible to me… Beyond meat, I pretty much do it already everyday since I don’t really eat much in the way of processed food and I don’t even buy organics.
Actually the brewers are some of the most hardcore anti-GMO or any kind of “high-tech science” interference group. So much so that even the scientists are starting to complain. There is so much potential that we can do, such as making strains that would produce banana or mango or citrus or whatever fruitiness you want or varying flocculation properties etc, but they just refuse to use them! That’s gradually changing though. Wineries are starting to use custom yeast strains and some brewers in South Africa are getting in on it as well.
I personally don’t see any nutritional harm in GMOs. Pesticides etc are another matter though, but in terms of yeast those are not applicable, really.
Yeah, Brewers as a whole tend to be super traditional. I’ve even seen arguments among professional brewers whether or not you’re a real brewer and the beer should be considered “craft” if you use pelletized hops… :roll:
Yeah, Brewers as a whole tend to be super traditional. I’ve even seen arguments among professional brewers whether or not you’re a real brewer and the beer should be considered “craft” if you use pelletized hops… :roll: [/quote]
But I have also seen “Hopfenextrakt” on the label of ingredients for a traditional German pilsner…
I don’t believe eliminating GMOs is an option at this point. They provide so many advantages and potential for crops and everyday living.
Yeah, Brewers as a whole tend to be super traditional. I’ve even seen arguments among professional brewers whether or not you’re a real brewer and the beer should be considered “craft” if you use pelletized hops… :roll: [/quote]
But I have also seen “Hopfenextrakt” on the label of ingredients for a traditional German pilsner…[/quote]
:?:
[quote=“mrv”][quote=“ynotbrusum”][quote=“Chaz”]
Yeah, Brewers as a whole tend to be super traditional. I’ve even seen arguments among professional brewers whether or not you’re a real brewer and the beer should be considered “craft” if you use pelletized hops… :roll: [/quote]
But I have also seen “Hopfenextrakt” on the label of ingredients for a traditional German pilsner…[/quote]
:?: [/quote]
Just commenting on the “traditionalist” approach of German brewers, who are bound by Reinheitsgebot, yet use hop extract, rather than whole or pellet hops. Sorry for the confusion.
[quote=“roffenburger”]I don’t believe eliminating GMOs is an option at this point. They provide so many advantages and potential for crops and everyday living.[/quote]We’re all part of a grand experiment in long-term exposure to GMOs in humans but there’s no control group (everyone is ingesting some level of GMOs unless they’re only eating off their land with heirloom seeds and no nearby GMO-using neighbors), so any adverse effects will be blamed on other factors for “lack of evidence.”
:?:
Just commenting on the “traditionalist” approach of German brewers, who are bound by Reinheitsgebot, yet use hop extract, rather than whole or pellet hops. Sorry for the confusion.
I see it now. Hop extract. I didn’t make the connection. :cheers:
I’ve heard some talk of using data from Amish populations as a control group for studies linking vaccinations to autism, etc. I’m guessing that some or most of those populations would fit the criteria you listed above.
I made a phone call to Rahr and was assured that all malting barley currently in production is non-GMO. The guy at Rahr said that it’s more likely that the barley genome will be altered through selective breeding. He said that barley growers are more concerned about hybridized barley, since they’d have to then buy new seed every year.
The think that makes me nervous about GMO foods is the way that they were “sneaked in” under the radar by corporate insiders. Monsanto guys heading up the USDA? Just one example of how our entire government has been taken over by corporations. Fun stuff.
