South Africa: PenBev will not use CO2 made from beer

Peninsula Beverages (PenBev) would not use carbon dioxide (CO2) derived from beer in its products, the Western Cape bottler of Coca-Cola fizzy drinks said, according to Business Report, March 26.

This follows an announcement by SABMiller-owned ABI that it would start using CO2 derived from the beer production business to make up for gas shortages in the South African market.

Managing director Stuart McLeod said: "PenBev never has and never will use CO2 from brewery sources in any of its products." This comes after a Muslim organisation said last week it had yet to give the CO2 derived from the beer-brewing process its stamp of approval.

Muslims are prohibited from consuming, among other things, alcohol.

Moulana Abdul Wahab Wookay, the chief executive of the National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT), said it had been informed by SAB of it plans, but would have to consult more widely with Islamic jurists before it made a decision on certifying the CO2.

SAB communications manager Michael Farr previously said that it had consulted with Muslim leaders and that the CO2 by-product of the brewing process would be "heavily purified and have absolutely no traces of alcohol".

McLeod said PenBev and partners would invest about R39 million in a CO2 plant in Sasolburg to make up for the nationwide shortage of the gas. The CO2 will be derived from natural gas. It had also invested in increasing CO2 storage facilities and had ordered two 70 ton "strategic holding tanks".

But in the short term, he said PenBev would start importing CO2 next month.

SAB, the local division of SABMiller, said it would invest R100 million in a new gas plant expected to be operational by October.

Farr said that SAB had consulted NIHT before proceeding with plans to build the plant and had been given an indication that there would be no problem. However, the beer-derived CO2 would have to go through a certification process.

Last month the country's largest gas supplier, Afrox, said it had experienced a 20 percent shortfall of CO2 in November after unscheduled plant shutdowns.

Apart from gas supply problems, the country has experienced shortages of a wide range of goods, including food products and cement, as economic growth outstripped investment in capacity.

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