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posted by janrinok on Monday April 21 2014, @12:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-who-will-make-a-profit? dept.

One gallon of beer yields on average about a pound of spent grain, the malted barley husks leftover after mashing and the sweet liquid is drained. It's a food grade product and for years, smaller craft brewers have donated or sold on the cheap their spent grain to farmers to feed cows and other livestock. Now The Oregonian reports that the FDA, charged with tightening the country's food safety network, has proposed a rule that strikes financial fear into the hearts of brewers and distillers nationwide which could cost the industry millions and increase the price of beer and spirits. The proposal would classify companies that distribute spent grain to farms as animal feed manufacturers, possibly forcing them to dry and package the material before distribution. The equipment and set up to do that would cost about $13 million per facility, says Scott Mennen, vice president of brewery operations at Widmer. "That would be cost prohibitive," Mennen said. "Most brewers would have to put this material in a landfill."

The FDA rule would also require brewers and distillers to keep extensive records to allow for traceability in the event of a problem, and to adopt new safety procedures, for example by storing and shipping spent grain in closed sanitized containers. "Beer prices would go up for everybody to cover the cost of the equipment and installation," says James Emmerson, executive brewmaster of Full Sail Brewing Co. The proposal has sparked an outpouring from opponents, with hundreds of comments pouring into the FDA. "This is the kind of stuff that makes government look bad," says Rep. Peter DeFazio. "It would mark a huge setback adding tons of waste to our landfills."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday April 21 2014, @01:09PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday April 21 2014, @01:09PM (#33936) Homepage
    Thanks, bucc5062, you make some good points. In particular, this begins to answer the question that wanted to ask:

    > Many of these farms are getting this product either free or pay a very low cost for the product. The companies that lose? Feed manufacturers. From Cargill to Monsanto these companies gain by putting this practice out of business.

    the question being "what lobby's behind this?", obviously.

    Time for someone to roll out a venn diagram, perhaps? http://progressivecynic.files.wordpress.com/2012/1 1/geke.png
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  • (Score: 3) by mhajicek on Monday April 21 2014, @02:43PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Monday April 21 2014, @02:43PM (#33988)

    I could've cite a source, but I recall a Monsanto executive stating that it was their goal to control the entire food supply.

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    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday April 21 2014, @02:46PM

      by mhajicek (51) on Monday April 21 2014, @02:46PM (#33990)

      Couldn't...

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