Checking for due diligence on pesticides.
The UK malting industry takes a great deal of care to ensure that the malts it produces are entirely safe. Pesticides and other plant protection products used in British agriculture are subject to stringent legislation under UK and EU law. In addition to these statutory requirements, plant protection products must be tested by the BRI for any adverse effects on malt or beer quality before they are accepted by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) for use on malting barley in the UK. The results of these tests are publicised to growers and users of malting barley via the BBPA Accepted Agrochemicals List.
Brewing Research International have recently devoted a section of their database to data on pesticides. This includes the maximum residue levels set by the EU, the UK, Japan and Codex for pesticides levels in barley and separately for wheat, as well as the latest version of all agrochemicals approved by BBPA for use on barley and hops. Hit the BRI logo below to be taken straight to this area on the BRi database;
Like other cereals, malting barley may be stored for up to a year between harvests and infestation by insects is always a risk. As well as being unhygienic, insects can damage the embryo of the grain and can encourage mould growth, which is itself undesirable. In order to control insects, a small number of insecticides are approved by the EU and the UK authorities for use in grain storage, and from this list further testing is done by Brewing Research International,to produce a list approved by brewers and distillers.
The Maltsters Association of Great Britain regularly monitors its barleys for residual insecticides resulting from grain storage practices. This has consistently demonstrated that all residues are well below any legal limits, with the majority of samples containing no detectable residues.
Figure 1. Residues of grain storage insecticides in UK malting barleys tested at intake.
Figure 2. Residues of grain storage insecticides in UK malting barleys tested during storage or prior to steep.
During malting a substantial proportion of chemical residues are washed by the steep water or are destroyed during kilning. Residues in malts are therefore significantly lower than in barleys. This is confirmed by regular surveillance of commercial malts.
As a part of the MAGB's continuing safety assurance programme, a representative set of malts from each crop year are subjected to a standard pesticide screen. This test looks for a wide range of 112 fungicides, insecticides and herbicides (list available on request) which may be used on agricultural crops or which are covered by EU legislation. No problem residues have been detected in any of the samples.
Separate testing has been carried out for chlormequat, which is a low toxicity plant growth regulator approved in the UK and many other countries for use on barley at an early stage of growth. Residues detected in malts were between 0.2 and 0.5 mg/kg, which is less than one quarter of the legal limit in the EU and the UK.
The most recent collated tests results are those for the 2004 barley crop. The results of 2735 separate tests were studied, and no results were found to be above the legal limit (the Maximum Residual Limit, or MRL) . In 90 cases pesticide residues were detected, but they were all below the MRL.
