Glitter beer has become the “what will they think of next?” beer story
of this spring, part of the larger trend of sparkly foods from doughnuts
to pizza and cupcakes. Many news outlets have run stories of local
breweries jumping into the fad...
Eichelberger said the German-made
glitter he’s using does not affect flavor. It contains titanium
dioxide —
a white compound that’s used as a pigment in paint and sunscreen — and
tiny flakes of mica, a pearlescent mineral that’s the same stuff found
in kids’ craft projects and teenagers’ hair.
All
of that sounds not super great to put in your body, but if the Food and
Drug Administration says it’s safe (it does), let’s have a glitter beer
party! (Really, though, titanium dioxide is commonly used as a food
coloring, and mica flakes have been in toothpaste for years.)...
Glitter beer has incited many eye rolls and much hand-wringing from
purists, especially on beer Twitter. But appearance has always been a
part of beer evaluation, and rather serious beer writer Jeff Alworth
noted on his “Beervana” podcast that glitter allows a drinker to follow
the usually hidden convection cycle of a beer as it is agitated while
pouring and drinking.
More information at the
Wisconsin State Journal.
Titanium dioxide is considered safe, but it starts to become a concern in Europe. The element itself is a natural compound (hey uranium too...)but in a nano-scale use it's problematic it can enter in the body at a cellular level. Then there's the question of how much we are exposed, and in fact aside the persons who manufacture products that contains this, we are using it everywhere (as you mention it in toothpaste for years) and every day it's now on sunscreen creams, in numerous cosmetics glittering varnish for the nails and peeling creams but also on chewing-gums and all sorts of candies. Some are changing their recipes. And the elephant in the room is that these nano particules when washed away in the water, are too tiny to be capted by the water filtering systems. In Europe we are talking about a health hazard possibly comparable to the asbestos, that was forbid in the US since the late 60's that loobies managed to prevent to do so before the 80's notably in France. If you have time I found an interesting article, that shows how deep titanium dioxide particles can go following their size: http://www.organicmakeup.ca/ca/titaniumdioxide.asp
ReplyDeleteSo my message is no more glitter, if you want fancy glittering drinks you already have Champagne with edible gold flackes. Keep up your good work, I love reading your blog.
Thank you, Luis. Interesting article re dermatology and sunscreens.
DeleteIf it is flight you can pretty much count on it having titanium dioxide in it. Food, paint, coffee creamer, socks, everything.
ReplyDeleteI love using voice input. Read flight as white above
ReplyDelete