Let's ask Bob
Ask Bob Brewer: Does Beer Contain Fluoride?
FEBRUARY 3, 2016
Posted by Anchor Brewing at 10:53 pm | Category: Ask Bob Brewer
Bob-Brewer-brewhouseColin Richard (via Facebook): Does beer contain fluoride, or is the water they use filtered beforehand?
Bob: The short answer is no. This is an interesting question that I have been asked before, often by people who are concerned by such things as the GMO debate or other environmental and health issues.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound that exists in ground water in some parts of the country and the world. As early as the mid-19th century, it had been established that the incidence of tooth decay was greatly reduced in these areas, with fluoride being the active agent. In an era preceding widespread access to dentistry for a large percentage of the population, it was considered a public health matter to add fluoride to the water supply to minimize the incidence of tooth decay in the general public.
While proven to be quite effective, the inevitable conspiracy theories soon sprung up around the practice. One such theory in the 1950’s, totally debunked ages ago, had held that fluoride made people more susceptible to propaganda and manipulation. A vicious commie plot for sure.
Conspiracy theories aside, and the widely-proven health benefits notwithstanding, fluoridation of the water supply has become an issue in some places. Public health officials have raised the socio-economic issue of the persistent lack of dental care for lower-income Americans to push for wider use of fluoridation, while other areas have discontinued its use. Either way, the universal availability of fluoridated toothpaste has almost made the issue moot.
So what happens if a brewery uses a water supply that has been fluoridated? Will the fluoride end up in the beer?
Water quality is a huge concern for brewers. Brewery water is filtered and almost everything that is not naturally-occurring is removed. Trace amounts that might remain, if any, are boiled off in the brewhouse.
In other words, there is no fluoride in beer.
Boiled off? You can't.
Bob looks as though he knows what he is talking about. Shame he isn't.
FEBRUARY 3, 2016
Posted by Anchor Brewing at 10:53 pm | Category: Ask Bob Brewer
Bob-Brewer-brewhouseColin Richard (via Facebook): Does beer contain fluoride, or is the water they use filtered beforehand?Bob: The short answer is no. This is an interesting question that I have been asked before, often by people who are concerned by such things as the GMO debate or other environmental and health issues.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound that exists in ground water in some parts of the country and the world. As early as the mid-19th century, it had been established that the incidence of tooth decay was greatly reduced in these areas, with fluoride being the active agent. In an era preceding widespread access to dentistry for a large percentage of the population, it was considered a public health matter to add fluoride to the water supply to minimize the incidence of tooth decay in the general public.
While proven to be quite effective, the inevitable conspiracy theories soon sprung up around the practice. One such theory in the 1950’s, totally debunked ages ago, had held that fluoride made people more susceptible to propaganda and manipulation. A vicious commie plot for sure.
Conspiracy theories aside, and the widely-proven health benefits notwithstanding, fluoridation of the water supply has become an issue in some places. Public health officials have raised the socio-economic issue of the persistent lack of dental care for lower-income Americans to push for wider use of fluoridation, while other areas have discontinued its use. Either way, the universal availability of fluoridated toothpaste has almost made the issue moot.
So what happens if a brewery uses a water supply that has been fluoridated? Will the fluoride end up in the beer?
Water quality is a huge concern for brewers. Brewery water is filtered and almost everything that is not naturally-occurring is removed. Trace amounts that might remain, if any, are boiled off in the brewhouse.
In other words, there is no fluoride in beer.
Boiled off? You can't.
Bob looks as though he knows what he is talking about. Shame he isn't.
posted by Bill at
10:01 AM
4 Comments:
Quote:"Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound" yes Bob it is but it's NOT what they use to top the level up with is it...There is nothing natural about hexafluorosilicic acid...
By
rcannard, at 04 February, 2016
He thinks fluoride can be boiled or filtered off? Does this man understand nothing at all about fluoride? Does he think beer companies use distilled water - or reverse osmosis?? Of course fluoride is in beer! And even greater concentrations in Guinness apparently!!
By
Cllr. Chris, at 04 February, 2016
I submitted the following comment on that article on the Anchor Brewing website yesterday, but it hasn't appeared so far.
Sorry Bob, the article is garbage. The early research looking at the question of fluoride in drinking water in relation to tooth decay was done in the 1930s, not the mid-19th century. Carbon filters are not effective for fluoride removal, and the more expensive options such as reverse osmosis filters do not completely remove the fluoride in water either. And you can't boil off fluoride. Boiling increases the fluoride concentration. Believe it or not people have actually measured the fluoride concentrations of beer, and found them to be similar to those of the water used.
There is no credible evidence that fluoridated water has ever prevented a single dental cavity. The forced-fluoridation fanatics often try to claim that the low rates of dental caries in western European countries which do not have artificially fluoridated public water supplies are due to naturally occurring fluoride in water, or some other kind of artificial fluoridation such as salt fluoridation. They are lying.
http://forcedfluoridationfreedomfighters.com/scotland-and-the-netherlands-inconvenient-examples/
By
Dan Germouse, at 05 February, 2016
Some fluorides are naturally occurring compounds, but fluoride itself is not a compound, it is the ionic form of the chemical element fluorine. So Bob got that wrong too.
By
Dan Germouse, at 05 February, 2016
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