FSANZ Call for Comment on Use of GM-Derived Enzyme in Beer Production
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for comment on an application to allow the use of alpha-glucosidase—a permitted enzyme processing aid derived from a genetically modified (GM) source—for the brewing of beer. If approved, the enzyme could be used as a processing aid in the manufacture of beer, including low-alcohol and lower-carbohydrate beer.
Alpha-glucosidase is already approved to be used as processing aid in a range of foods, but not in beer. The enzyme is produced from a GM strain of the fungus Trichoderma reesei, which has a long history of safe use as the source of enzyme processing aids, including several that are already permitted in the Food Standards Code.