Study Finds Plastic Microparticles in Beers (Video)

What’s in your beer? According to a recent study, there may be more than hops and malts floating around in your pint.

Researchers working in Germany took a sample of 24 kinds of beer from a local grocery store, including the ten most popular varieties.

They found tiny pieces of plastic in all of the beers, while pouring them through a cellulose filter.

Since the filter got clogged after half of a bottle of the five wheat beers tested, they switched to stainless steel sieves.

They found microparticles of glass in three samples, along with one sample that had almost an entire insect.

Another non-synthetic particle found in some of the beer samples, were pieces of skin or outer epidermis, presumably from workers at the brewery.

Microplastics have also been found in samples of sugar and honey as part of a study by the same team of researchers.

The beer might have been filtered using activated charcoal, asbestos, or wood chippings, which could contain plastics.

Although the amounts of plastics found in these consumable products isn’t enough to do much harm, the study authors note these microplastics have now made their way into our food chain.