Australia & New Zealand: Trans-Tasman food regulator permits beer labels without declarations of isinglass content

New Zealand brewers are asking a trans-Tasman food regulator to stop making them warn drinkers they are using bits of fish bladder in the beer, 3news.co.nz communicated on October, 1.

According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) requirements, beer labels must warn consumers allergic to fish when the dried swim bladders, known as isinglass, from tropical fish have been used to clarify the beverage.

Now the Brewers Association of New Zealand wants an exemption from the mandatory declaration for allergens in beer and wine.

Wine and beer makers began fighting against disclosing their used of the fish parts when regulations were introduced in 2002 requiring labelling of all products that could cause anaphylactic shock.

One major beer brewer, Lion Nathan, actually stopped using isinglass rather than to have to put the label on its beers. It said at the time that the nation's major breweries in New Zealand were designed around the efficiency of isinglass, and that it would look at using the treatment again if the label rule was lifted.

FSANZ spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann, of Canberra, said the agency had now concluded that isinglass-fined beer and wine "does not raise any safety concerns for consumers allergic to fish".

It says only residual traces of isinglass are found in beer and wine and it does not include the protein that causes an allergic response.

FSANZ is recommending exempting isinglass from allergen declaration provisions for beer and wine, and is seeking public comment.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand is taking submissions on the proposal until mid-November.

Many vegetarians consider beers processed with these finings to be unsuitable for vegetarian diets.

The fish bladders are almost entirely collagen, with a high content of an amino acid which attracts molecules of bitter tannins, and phenolics.

03 October, 2008