Broad Liquor Recall Urged Over Suspected Carcinogen

A consumers’ group Monday demanded a nationwide recall of more than 50 alcoholic beverages after it learned that trace amounts of urethane, a suspected cancer-causing agent, were found in the products.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recall those products with detectable urethane levels. The National Council on Alcoholism endorsed the 40-page petition.

Among the products in question are a limited number of California sherries, European fruit brandies and American bourbons.

The center acted after it obtained, through the Freedom of Information Act, the previously undisclosed results of a continuing FDA urethane-testing program. The federal program was begun in late 1985, after Canada banned several American bourbons.

An FDA official acknowledged that the agency has been testing for urethane but said it has yet to establish a safety standard. The chemical is a natural byproduct of fermentation, industry spokesmen said.

‘Small Quantities’ Found

“From a dietetic perspective, the consumer should be more concerned about the alcohol itself, rather than the small amount of urethane (found during the testing),” said John Norris, FDA deputy commissioner. “But, at the moment, the small quantities (of urethane) in the product are not of significantly sufficient concern to warrant non-consumption.”

“Once again, the Center for Science is fright-mongering on this issue in their anti-alcohol hysteria, and they are doing an unbelievable disservice by frightening the general public on a non-issue,” said Janet Flynn of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States in Washington.

John De Luca, president of the Wine Institute in San Francisco, said that the Center for Science is known to be an anti-alcohol organization. California and European vintners are researching the formation of urethane in wines, he said, and he added that the chemical is less likely to be in wine today because of technological innovations such as cold fermentation.

Bruce Silverglade of the Center for Science said urethane is a contaminant found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. He said that some levels of it found in the FDA’s review of alcoholic beverages could pose a health threat.

The FDA’s survey tested 179 wines, sherries, bourbons and brandies. Fifty-two brands, or 29%, contained levels of the chemical considered unsafe, based on Canadian health standards, the groups’ petition contends.

In Canada, safe levels are considered to be 30 parts per billion in wine, 100 ppb in dessert wines such as sherries, 400 ppb in fruit brandies and liqueurs and 150 ppb in distilled spirits, according to Center for Science statistics.

The most urethane found in the FDA’s study was in European fruit brandies. Germany’s Schladerer Black Forest Kirschwasser (cherry brandy) contained as much as 6,662 ppb, and Austria’s Zwack Rathans Kirsch (cherry brandy) contained 2,886 ppb.

Sherries that the FDA found to exceed the Canadian urethane standards included Gallo’s Cream Sherry of California (450 ppb), Christian Brothers’ California Golden Sherry (390 ppb) and Paul Masson Sherry (272 ppb).

The highest level found in a California wine other than sherry was in Callaway Vineyard’s 1983 Sauvignon Blanc (270 ppb).

Whiskeys with generally higher urethane levels included Old Forester Bourbon (292 ppb), Old Taylor Kentucky Straight Bourbon with (283 ppb) and Early Times Bourbon (269 ppb).