Glyphosate, the active chemical in many common weed killers, is one of the most widely used herbicides in global agriculture. Its pervasive use on food crops has led to questions about its presence in finished products, including beer. Recent independent studies have detected trace amounts of this chemical in various popular beer brands, sparking public concern. While these detected levels are extremely low, understanding the source, measured quantities, and regulatory context is important.
How Glyphosate Enters the Brewing Process
The presence of glyphosate in beer is directly linked to common agricultural practices used for growing the main brewing ingredients. Barley and wheat, which are malted to provide the sugars for fermentation, are the primary vectors for the herbicide residue. Glyphosate is commonly applied to these crops shortly before harvest, a practice known as desiccation.
Desiccation accelerates the drying of the grain crop, allowing for earlier and more uniform harvesting. Spraying the herbicide onto the maturing plant causes it to dry out, leaving residue on the harvested kernels that remains as the grain is processed into malt and used in the brewing mash.
While some industry groups oppose the use of desiccants on malting barley, the practice remains widespread for other cereal grains. Minor ingredients, including hops, corn, rice adjuncts, and even the water used in brewing, can also contribute trace amounts. However, only a small percentage of the glyphosate originally found in the raw barley carries through to the finished beer product due to washing and processing steps.
Quantifying Detection: Reported Levels in Beer
Multiple independent investigations have tested beer samples to determine the levels of glyphosate present. These studies use highly sensitive laboratory techniques to detect minute quantities, such as liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results consistently show that while glyphosate is detectable in most commercial beers, the amounts are measured in parts per billion (ppb).
A 2019 report from a U.S. consumer advocacy group tested popular beer brands and found that 14 out of 15 samples contained detectable levels of the herbicide. The measured quantities ranged from non-detectable up to a high of 49 ppb in one international brand, with several domestic and imported beers registering levels in the 20 to 30 ppb range. Even beers labeled as organic were not immune, with one organic lager showing 5.7 ppb, likely due to environmental contamination like herbicide drift.
These quantified results confirm the presence of glyphosate at the trace level. These detected levels are substantially lower than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by regulatory bodies for many raw agricultural commodities, which can range into the hundreds of ppb.
Regulatory Safety Standards and Health Context
To understand the health implications of these trace amounts, it is necessary to compare the detected levels to established regulatory safety thresholds. Major global regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), set an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for glyphosate. The ADI represents the amount of a substance that can be ingested daily over a lifetime without an appreciable health risk.
The EFSA has set the ADI at 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, while the EPA’s chronic reference dose is 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. Considering the maximum level of glyphosate found in beer (around 50 ppb), the trace amounts are far below these established safety thresholds. Consuming a standard serving of beer would contribute a minuscule fraction of the established ADI.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015, but this is a hazard classification, not a direct risk assessment of exposure. Conversely, the EPA, EFSA, and the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) have concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk at the levels typically found in food and beverages. The current scientific consensus among regulatory bodies is that the ultra-low levels detected in beer do not represent a health concern.