Testing alcohol of Anheuser-Busch beers; brewer, attorney dispute findings
Every old-school journalist wants this assignment: test beer to see if it's been watered down, as a recent class-action lawsuit in California claims.
conducted an independent lab test of Budweiser and related brands this week.
The results?
Budweiser contained 4.94% alcohol by volume, compared with 5% stated on the label.
Bud Light Lime possessed 4.13%, compared with 4.2% stated on the packaging.
And Bud Ice showed 5.35%, compared with the label's 5.5%.
When told of the results,
a spokesman for Anheuser-Busch, which brews the brands, reiterated the
company's stance that the lawsuit is "completely false" and
"groundless."
"The sample test results
you provided are well within the variability of the all-natural brewing
process and all in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws, as we
noted," Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply for
Anheuser-Busch
Joshua Boxer, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he wasn't surprised by how results differed from the brewer's figures.
The lawsuit's claims are
partly based on internal information from former Anheuser-Busch
employees, and the suit will be seeking the beer maker's internal
numbers on alcohol content, Boxer said.
"That's the proof you should actually be asking for," Boxer said
The plaintiffs'
attorneys believe a bottle of Budweiser has 4.7% alcohol instead of the
label's 5% figure. Over a year of brewing, that alcohol difference
amounts to "tens of millions" of dollars in savings for the company,
Boxer said.
"The most accurate data,
as we discussed, is going to come from Anheuser-Busch because they do
their testing six times per second," Boxer said. "And they use different
technology, in fact, from the laboratories you used."
Earlier this week, two
California residents sued Anheuser-Busch, alleging the company waters
down Budweiser and other beers "significantly" to boost profits.
The class-action lawsuit
alleges that the maker of the "King of Beers" has the technology to
precisely control the amount of alcohol in its beers but adds water so
the alcohol is well below the advertised figure of 5% by volume, the
suit said.
"There are no
impediments -- economic, practical or legal -- to AB accurately labeling
its products to reflect their true alcohol content," the 18-page
lawsuit said. "Nevertheless, AB uniformly misrepresents and overstates
that content."
The beer maker has
rejected the lawsuit's allegations and now points to media outlets'
independent tests to bolster its response.
"The claims against
Anheuser-Busch are completely false, and these lawsuits are groundless,"
Kraemer said earlier this week. "Our beers are in full compliance with
all alcohol labeling laws.
"We proudly adhere to
the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the
best-selling in the U.S. and the world," he said.
The brands that the suit
alleges are watered down are those tested affiliates and Bud Lite Platinum,
Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra,
Busch Ice and Natural Ice.
But the suit doesn't provide figures for the allegedly watered-down alcohol content.
Nina Giampaoli and John
Elbert, who reside in Sonoma County, California, are the plaintiffs who
say they stopped buying Budweiser after learning of the alleged
mislabeling, the suit said.
Their suit, filed last
week in federal court in San Francisco, alleges violations of
California's consumer protection laws and Missouri's Merchandising
Practices Act.
"I think it's wrong for
huge corporations to lie to their loyal customers -- I really feel
cheated," Giampaoli said in a statement. "No matter what the product is,
people should be able to rely on the information companies put on their
labels."