Action on distillers' barley plea

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 21:40

A LONG-TERM plan to remove a harmful chemical from malting barley is taking a step forward with the arrival of a new generation of varieties that do not contain the carcinogenic compound glycosidic nitrile (GN).

The quantity of GN in existing varieties is very low; the common perception is that anyone consuming sufficient alcohol to be worried about GN would succumb much more rapidly to cirrhosis of the liver.

However, since GN was first identified 20 or so years ago, the distilling industry has made it clear to plant breeders that they would like this genetic trait bred out of future varieties.

This preference is mainly to protect markets where issues might arise in the future through legislation on food safety, and for the past 15 years plant breeders have been working towards that goal.

Currently, about one-third of all malting barley varieties in Scotland are either low or non-GN-containing cultivars and Lee Robinson, head of arable marketing at Nickerson, which yesterday announced two new non-GN varieties, Belgravia and Concerto, said he expected that percentage would increase.

GN is an issue only in the distilling sector, and it does not affect the brewing industry.

Looking at the market for malting barley for the coming season, Robinson admitted that there was still a huge overhang on the market.

But in a normal year, the drinks industry buys more than 750,000 tonnes of grain in order to make alcohol.

He maintained that, having had two good production years, it would be unusual to have a third. He also noted the massive investment being made by the major drinks companies in Scotch whisky and said they would not be doing that unless they thought there was a future.

Robinson said he believed that major markets for Scotch whisky in China and India were recovering well from the recent economic downturn, and added that barley growers should look beyond the immediate future.