MIAMI, April 22 -- Dieting adults who love their beer, but have given it up based on the advice of "The South Beach Diet" author Dr. Arthur Agatston now have good news: His attacks on beer are based on errors, which his online nutritionists now admit.
The best-selling "South Beach Diet" book slams beer and bans drinking it, saying it is high in maltose, a form of sugar.
The trouble is, there is no maltose in beer.
Maltose, from barley malt, is found in beer only in its early brewing stages and is eliminated when yeast converts it to alcohol and carbonation. Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Michelob ULTRA and all major-selling Anheuser- Busch beers contain no maltose.
"The notion that beer contains large amounts of carbohydrates is simply untrue," said Dr. Sam Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine. "Furthermore, the carbohydrates in beer are not sugar. Basically all of the sugar is converted to alcohol during fermentation."...
"Independent testing confirms there is no maltose -- or any other sugar -- in our beers, or most other popular beers," said Douglas J. Muhleman, group vice president and chief brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch, Inc. "This is a basic fact of brewing science, and a call to any brewer would have cleared this up for Dr. Agatston."
In his book, Agatston advises dieters to "avoid white wine, spirits, or, worst of all, beer"; calls maltose in beer "even worse than table sugar"; calls maltose "the king of all sugars" that leads to a "beer belly"; and says "guzzling this beverage" encourages "storage of fat around the midsection."
"We have notified Dr. Agatston about his inaccuracies," said Francine Katz, Anheuser-Busch vice president and spokesperson. "Unfortunately, he has so far refused to remove these false statements from his books and Web site. He has taken no substantive action to make it known to the millions of people who followed his advice that the information he provided on beer is terribly flawed and misleading. They have a right to know the truth, so we are doing our best to provide it."
Anheuser-Busch has placed full-page ads in 31 national and local newspapers nationwide to advise beer drinkers of the mistakes on beer in "The South Beach Diet." The ads will run April 23.
"Adults who responsibly enjoy beer -- particularly light beer -- have no need to feel the 'carb guilt' that Dr. Agatston has wrongly attached to beer," said Katz. "We want all adult beer drinkers who might be watching their carbs to know that." ...
Despite the fact that Agatston and his online nutritionists have partially acknowledged the truth about beer carbohydrates, they have done so only to the limited audience in the diet's chat room and have not changed the information on beer in the "South Beach" books or Web site...
When questioned about low-carb beers by one chat room dieter, Agatston replied: "All of the alcoholic beverages, when consumed in moderation, appear to have favorable effects on heart disease and diabetes prevention. We feel that, as a rule, consuming alcohol with a meal is much more preferable than is consuming alcohol on an empty stomach. We also prefer the low-carb beers, such as Michelob ULTRA, to the high-carb beers."
This revised advice about beer comes after Anheuser-Busch notified Agatston about the inaccuracies in letters sent to him in February and March...
Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) is the leading U.S. brewer and holds a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. In a survey of 10,000 business leaders and securities analysts, Anheuser-Busch ranked first overall in quality of products and services among nearly 600 companies researched in FORTUNE magazine's 2004 "America's Most Admired Companies" listing. The company is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. SOURCE Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
/CONTACT: Carlos Ramirez of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., +1-314-577-9629, carlos.ramirez@anheuser-busch.com /