Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Get preserved at the pub

Remind me not to order any beer if I'm ever in Shanghai: Formaldehyde could mean rigor mortis for local brews: In 2003, after decades of keeping family recipes locked away in subterranean vaults, Chinese brew masters were forced to reveal one of the secrets behind the long-lasting aftertaste Shanghaiist had come to expect from a bottle of Chinese beer: formaldehyde (甲醛 or jia quan). Apparently, Chinese beers were to reduce the formaldehyde levels to 0.2 ppm, but a recent exposé revealed that 95% of domestic (China) beers contained as much as 1.2ppm formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. It also is allegedly what Aspartame/NutraSweet breaks down into in the bloodstream.

Have I mentioned lately that I ceased drinking diet soda in March, and completely 100% coincidentally the nasty psoriasis on my hands has cleared up dramatically? I'm sure the two are not related, it's likely a complete, and utter coincidence.

e.p.c. posted this at 12:11 GMT on 13-Jul-2005 .

Slightly acerbic and eccentric dog walker who masquerades as a web developer and occasional CTO.

Spent five years running the technology side of the circus known as www.ibm.com.

More about me here.

Archives