In 2019, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) tested 20 popular beers and wines for glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller. 19 of 20 came back positive. The one that didn't was a certified organic IPA.
Glyphosate is the world's most widely used herbicide. It's sprayed on barley and wheat crops — the grains used to make beer — often just weeks before harvest in a practice called pre-harvest desiccation. It also turns up in vineyards, where it's used as a weed killer between grape rows.
This article breaks down the actual numbers by brand, explains how glyphosate gets into your drink, and puts the risk in honest context.
Beer Rankings by Glyphosate Level
The following data comes from the 2019 U.S. PIRG Education Fund study, which tested 15 beers using laboratory analysis. Results are in parts per billion (ppb).
| Brand | Glyphosate (ppb) | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Tsingtao Beer | 49.7 | Highest |
| Coors Light | 31.1 | High |
| Miller Lite | 29.8 | High |
| Budweiser | 27.0 | High |
| Corona Extra | 25.1 | High |
| Heineken | 20.9 | Moderate |
| Guinness Draught | 20.3 | Moderate |
| Stella Artois | 18.7 | Moderate |
| Ace Perry Hard Cider | 14.5 | Moderate |
| Sierra Nevada Pale Ale | 11.8 | Low-Moderate |
| New Belgium Fat Tire | 11.2 | Low-Moderate |
| Sam Adams New England IPA | 11.0 | Low-Moderate |
| Stella Artois Cidre | 9.1 | Low-Moderate |
| Samuel Smith's Organic Lager | 5.7 | Low |
| Peak Beer Organic IPA | 0 | None detected |
Wine Rankings by Glyphosate Level
The same study tested 5 wines. Budget and mass-market brands showed the highest levels. Organic wines came in significantly lower — but not zero.
| Brand | Glyphosate (ppb) | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Sutter Home Merlot | 51.4 | Highest |
| Beringer Founders Estates Moscato | 42.6 | High |
| Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon | 36.3 | High |
| Inkarri Malbec (Certified Organic) | 5.3 | Low |
| Frey Organic Natural White | 4.8 | Low |
Note that even certified organic wines showed trace glyphosate. This is common — glyphosate can drift from neighboring farms, contaminate shared water sources, or linger in soil. Organic certification prohibits its use but doesn't guarantee zero residue.
Why Glyphosate Ends Up in Beer and Wine
Pre-Harvest Desiccation
The main route into beer is a farming practice called pre-harvest desiccation. Farmers spray glyphosate on barley and wheat 1–2 weeks before harvest to speed up drying and enable earlier, more uniform harvesting. The practice originated in Scotland in the 1980s and is now common across the U.S., Canada, and Northern Europe.
The problem: glyphosate applied directly to grain stays there. Research shows 95–97% of glyphosate in grain carries over into the wort (the liquid extracted during brewing) — and it's water-soluble and heat-stable, so it survives the boiling process.
Vineyard Herbicide Use
Glyphosate is also widely used in vineyards as a weed killer between rows. Napa County data shows it's by far the most applied pesticide in the region — in 2013, over 50,000 of 57,000 pounds of glyphosate applied in Napa County was on vineyards. It absorbs into the soil and can enter the vine through root uptake.
What About Spirits?
Distilled spirits — whiskey, vodka, gin, rum — show significantly lower glyphosate levels than beer or wine. The reason is the distillation process itself: glyphosate decomposes at around 189°C, well above ethanol's boiling point of 78°C. Most of the compound is eliminated during distillation.
A peer-reviewed study on commercial and home-distilled spirits measured glyphosate levels of 0.2 to 1.2 μg/L — a fraction of what's found in beer. If glyphosate exposure from alcohol is a concern for you, spirits are the lower-risk category.
What Does This Mean for Your Health?
This is where the science gets genuinely contested — and it's worth being honest about that.
The Regulatory Divide
There is no global consensus on what level of glyphosate is "safe." The EPA considers glyphosate not likely to be carcinogenic and sets its reference dose at 2 mg/kg body weight per day — a threshold the levels found in beer and wine fall far below. The EU takes a more precautionary approach, and California's OEHHA has set a No Significant Risk Level of 1.1 mg/day — 127 times more stringent than the EPA.
The IARC Classification
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A) — the same category as red meat and shift work. This was based on limited evidence in humans and sufficient evidence in animals. The WHO/FAO Joint Meeting reached the opposite conclusion the following year, finding it unlikely to pose carcinogenic risk at expected dietary exposures.
Practical Context
At the levels found in the PIRG study (under 52 ppb), the quantities involved are very small. Using California's conservative standard, an adult would need to drink an implausible amount of wine daily to approach the risk threshold. The concern isn't acute toxicity — it's cumulative low-level exposure from glyphosate across multiple dietary sources simultaneously: grain products, oats, legumes, and now beer and wine.
How to Choose Lower-Glyphosate Options
- Choose certified organic beer or wine. Organic farming prohibits glyphosate. Levels won't be zero due to environmental drift, but they're consistently lower — as the data shows.
- Look for biodynamic wines. Biodynamic certification goes further than organic and often results in even lower residue levels.
- Opt for craft breweries using organic grain. Some craft brewers explicitly source organic malted barley — worth looking for on the label or website.
- Choose spirits over beer if concerned. Distillation removes most glyphosate. Bourbon, whiskey, and vodka are lower-exposure options.
- Natural wines — made with minimal intervention and no synthetic pesticides — are another lower-residue option, though not all are certified organic.
Sources
- U.S. PIRG Education Fund — Glyphosate in Beer and Wine (2019)
- Latvia Peer-Reviewed Study — Glyphosate in Beer (PubMed, 2018)
- Glyphosate in Commercial and Home-Distilled Spirits (PMC)
- IARC Monographs — Glyphosate Classification (2015)
- EWG — How We Set Health Benchmarks for Glyphosate
- The Conversation — Expert Analysis on Glyphosate in Beer and Wine