Non-alcoholic beers bring higher risk of E.coli and salmonella: Study

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Non-alcoholic beer may bring higher risk for E. coli and salmonella, according to a new study.

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According to the study led by Cornell University, beer lacking the protective properties of alcohol didn’t perform as well when tested for pathogens as its alcoholic counterparts.

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The researchers tracked the effects of acidity (pH), storage temperature, and alcohol concentration (specifically ethanol) on whether or not foodborne pathogens would reproduce or die off in the beer.

“Non-traditional beers lack one important hurdle to bacterial growth: ethanol concentration,” the authors wrote in a study published in the Journal of Food Protection.

The authors also noted that for low- and non-alcoholic beer, the “high pH, high sugar concentration, low (carbon dioxide), and low hop bittering compounds make these beverages more susceptible to spoilage microorganisms and foodborne pathogen growth.”

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Low-alcohol beers are defined as having less than 2.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), while non-alcoholic beers have less than 0.5% ABV.

The study tested three types of harmful bacteria — E. coli, salmonella enterica, and listeria monocytigene — in canned non-alcoholic beer, low-alcohol beer and traditional beer for 63 days.

The beers were stored at two temperatures (4 and 14 C).

“E. coli (strain) O157:H7 and (salmonella) grew and survived in low and non-alcoholic beers for over two months when stored at 4 and 14C,” the study’s authors wrote.

The refrigerated non-alcoholic beer kept below 4C did manage to stay safer to drink than the same lager at room temperature.

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However, the study’s authors emphasized the necessity of pasteurization for non-alcoholic beers to “achieve commercial sterility.”

“Sterile filtration and the addition of preservatives should be considered as additional steps to reduce this microbial risk,” the authors wrote in the study.

“Beers with high pH (>4.60), low to no alcohol, and low carbon dioxide are more susceptible to spoilage and pathogens,” the researchers wrote.

“Any craft beverage with a pH higher than 4.60 is at risk for Clostridium botulinum growth and potential toxin production.”

Listeria was below the detection limit at all pH values, according to the study.

“This challenge study demonstrates the need for beverage manufacturers to prioritize and maintain food safety plans along with practices specific to low- and non-alcoholic beer manufacturers,” the study’s authors wrote.

The study was done in collaboration with the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo.

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