VegSocUK Information Sheet
                              THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY

                                    ALCOHOL

   The use of animal derived products in the production of alcoholic beverages
   is fairly widespread not because no alternatives exist, but because they
   always have been used and there is little demand from the consumer for an
   alternative.

   The main obstacle when trying to judge the acceptability to vegetarians of
   any given product is a clause in the 1984 Food Labelling Regulations which
   exclude from the 1984 Food Act all drinks with an alcohol content exceeding
   1.2% by volume (ABV), leaving only very low or non-alcoholic beers, wines and
   ciders being required to list all ingredients.

   The main appearance of animal derived products is in the fining or clearing
   process, though others may be used as colorants or anti-foaming agents.
   It must be pointed out that alcohol is routinely tested on thousands of
   animals each year (though this is not usually done directly by any individual
   company).

  BEER

   Cask-conditioned ales need fining to clear the material (especially the
   yeast) held in suspension in the liquid. This is invariably done by adding
   isinglass, derived from the swim bladders of certain tropical fish especially
   the Chinese sturgeon, which acts as a falling suspension. If you were to hold
   a pint of real ale up to the light and see cloudy lumps swirling around that
   would suggest that the cask had been recently disturbed and the isinglass
   shaken up from the bottom. Bottled naturally conditioned beers will not
   always have been treated with isinglass. Keg Beers and Lagers are pasteurised
   and usually passed through Chill Filters, as are canned beers and some
   bottled beers, however a considerable number of breweries still use isinglass
   to clear their pasturised beers, though sometimes only to rescue selected
   batches which are considered too hazey. Also occasionally the sometimes
   animal derived additive Glyceryl Monostearate is used in place of 900
   Dimethylpolysiloxane as a foam-control agent in the production of keg beers.

   It is sometimes possible to buy barrels of cask-conditioned beer from a
   brewery before it has been fined. The beer would then have to be left for a
   considerable time to stand before consumption. To our knowledge, only one pub
   in England sells unfined real ale on draught: The Cumberland Arms in Byker,
   Newcastle on Tyne.

   The Vegetarian Society produces a list of beers suitable for vegetarians.

  CIDER

   Most of the main brands of cider will have been fined using gelatine. Scrumpy
   type ciders are less likely to have been fined.

  WINE

   With wine, it is again in the fining process that animal derived ingredients
   make an appearance. Finings can be isinglass, gelatin, egg albumen, modified
   casein (from milk), chitin (derived from the shells of crabs or lobsters) or
   ox blood (rarely used today). But alternatives do exist in the form of
   bentonite, kieselguhr, kaolin and silica gel or solution. Also newer methods
   such as centrefuging and filtering are becoming more popular. The majority of
   Organic wines do not use animal derived finings - but some do, Thorson's
   Organic Wine Guide by Jerry Lockspeiser and Jackie Gear, published in 1991,
   lists those wines which are suitable. You might like to note that the Wine
   Development Board claim that the fining agents are removed at the end of the
   process with the possible exception of very minute quantities.

   The Vegetarian Society produces a list of mail order organic wine suppliers.

  SPIRITS

   Most spirits appear to be acceptable to vegetarians, with the possible
   exception of Malt Whisky, some blended whiskies and Spanish Brandies which
   have been conditioned in casks which had previously held sherry which may
   have been treated with animal derived finings. (Brandy itself is not produced
   from wine which has undergone any fining processes). Also some imported
   Vodkas may have been passed through a bone charcoal filter.

  FORTIFIED WINES

   All ports except crusted port are fined using gelatin. Sherry should be
   treated in a similar way to wine.

  COLORANTS

   E120 cochineal produced by extracting the red body material from pregnant
   scale insects of the species Dactilopius Coccus is used as a colorant in a
   small number of red wines, soft drinks and Campari.
   ___________________________________


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This article is copyright to the Vegetarian Society (UK), but may be freely
copied for non-commercial use provided it is kept intact, not altered
and these lines are included.

For futher information contact: The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road,
Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, England. Tel: (England) 061 928 0793
email: vegsoc@vegsoc.demon.co.uk
//



[The text of this file was obtained from the Vegetarian Society (UK) in
March 1995.]