Who doesn’t love a good glass of wine? Wine is the most important part of a good Rainbow Sangria, and the fact that so many people around the world drink wine is the reason that National Wine Day exists. Wine is a drink that you shouldn’t have to live without. Not only is it excellent for your romance, but it’s great for your heart, your circulation, and your organs. But, it seems that wine may soon contain something that will cause you to lose interest in drinking it: fish bladders!
Fish In Your Wine?
According to the Huffington Post, Health Canada will soon begin to label their bottles of wine with a warning that they contain fish, eggs, and/or milk. How in the heck is this possible? After all, wines are made of grapes, and there is nothing in the grapes that should be causing any problems, right?
Well, according to the article, some of the ingredients used in the fermentation process of the wine contain some pretty disgusting things. For example, did you know that one of the ingredients used to ferment the wine contains a mixture of nutrients derived from egg whites, clay, gelatin, milk proteins, and the bladders of sturgeons? That sounds like the world’s most disgusting cocktail, but it’s in your wine!
The derivatives are all mixed together in order to form a clarifying agent. This agent basically takes the grape juice and gets rid of all of the sediment, leaving that beautifully clear red, white, or pink drink that we all know and love. However, considering the fact that it’s made from some pretty awful ingredients, it makes you wonder “What else is in my wine?”
Thankfully, Health Canada is only adding the label as a precaution. With more and more food allergies and sensitivities being discovered among the population every year, manufacturers and retailers have to be more careful about clearly labeling their food. If someone were to suffer an allergic reaction to the ingredients in the wine, it could spell a lawsuit.
One reporter called it a “stretch” to call the derivatives mentioned above actual ingredients in the wine. They are used in such small quantities that it’s unlikely that there will be any significant quantities of the ingredients remaining in the food. The fish bladders, egg whites, and milk protein derivatives aren’t mixed in for flavor, but they are just used to promote fermentation. You’ll find that there are so few parts per million of these ingredients that you’d never know they were there unless you read it in a news article. (You’re welcome!)
The fact that there are so few parts per million means that the allergy risk posed by the ingredients is less than minimal. Health Canada is just insisting that manufacturers add these labels “just to be safe”, and to inform consumers what is in the products they are consuming.
So sure, it may not be dangerous, but ew! Aren’t there any better ingredients that they can use to speed up the fermentation process? A good glass of wine is definitely something to be enjoyed, but how much will you enjoy that next sip when you remember that there are fish bladders in it? I bet you’re going to find it hard to finish off that glass of wine, and it’ll only get worse when you read the list of 50 ingredients that European winemakers are allowed to use in their wine. You may, like me, lose your appetite for wine once and for all!
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/wine-fish-bladders_n_858498.html
http://www.grubstreet.com/2011/08/there_are_fish_bladders_lurkin.html
