Study Exposes Hidden Health Danger in Non-Alcoholic Beer

A study by scientists at Cornell University has found that non-alcoholic beer is a breeding ground for bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. The report was published Wednesday in The Journal of Food Protection.

Microbiologist Randy Worobo and his team studied the growth of three types of bacteria—E. coli, salmonella, and listeria—in traditional beer, low-alcohol beer, and non-alcoholic beer.

They attempted to identify the effects of acidity, storage temperature, and alcohol concentration in the reproduction or death of microbial pathogens. Listeria died off in each brew, but non-alcoholic beer was determined to be most at risk of developing E. coli and salmonella. Scientists theorize this is due to the lack of alcohol, which acts as a natural disinfectant.

The beers were tested at two levels: a refrigerated 39.2°F, and a “room temperature” 57.2°F. While E. coli and salmonella were able to survive in both low and non-alcoholic beer for up to 63 days, the microbial colonies expanded more rapidly in the non-alcoholic beverage.

The researchers found that bacterial growth in non-alcoholic beer thrived at room temperature, but the lager kept at 39.2°F sprouted a smaller amount of harmful bacteria. However, simply cooling non-alcoholic beer doesn’t mitigate its dangers, according to the study’s authors.

“Low and nonalcoholic beers should be processed through pasteurization to achieve commercial sterility,” they said in a statement, via The Daily Mail. “Sterile filtration and the addition of preservatives should be considered as additional steps to reduce this microbial risk.”

The good news, though, is that regular beer is immune to this type of bacteria forming, making it a firm favorite both for storage and drinking purposes.

Cornell is now recommending that low and non-alcoholic beers be reviewed by their respective brewery’s “process authority,” which determines the thermal processing requirements for the product.