Guinness Stout Goes Vegan After 256 Years

By Whitney Filloon

The Irish stout currently uses fish bladders as part of the brewing process.

Iconic Irish beer Guinness is going vegan. The company has announced it will stop utilizing fish bladders during the brewing process, reports The Independent, making it fully animal product-free.

Guinness currently uses isinglass, "a by-product of the fishing industry," to clarify the beer by helping the yeast settle faster, but plans to switch to a a new, vegan-friendly filtering system in 2016. The Independent writes that " while large quantities of the agent are filtered out during the brewing process, there are still traces of fish bladders in the finished product" — something that didn't sit too well with vegan beer lovers, who petitioned the brand to discontinue its use of isinglass.

The brewer’s use of fish bladders may seem gross, but it’s not at all uncommon: According to Stephen Beaumont, author of The Beer & Food Companion , "Isinglass has been used to clarify beer and wine for decades and perhaps centuries, but its use has declined precipitously in recent years with the advent of new filtration and centrifugal techniques."

Adam Callaghan, beer writer and editor of Eater Maine, says consumers shouldn't notice any difference on their end. "Plenty of breweries already use a vegan-friendly alternative [for clarifying] like BioFine," he says, noting that more natural ingredients like Irish moss can also be used. " It's the kind of move where you go, it's probably cynical — but if it's a good result, does the intention matter?"
   
Beer industry expert and author of the upcoming book The Year of Drinking Adventurously Jeff Cioletti agrees that the brewer's move toward veganism won't have much of an effect on consumers, saying, "It might be good PR for Guinness for a few days, but that's about it."

Plenty of big brands are making moves to cater to the vegan demographic lately: Hippie-leaning ice cream purveyor Ben & Jerry's is planning to launch a vegan ice cream in 2016, and even Swedish furniture emporium Ikea has begun selling a vegan version of its famed Swedish meatballs (they're made with kale). Last year Chipotle started serving sofritas, a vegan protein option made from braised, shredded tofu, and it's now available in all of the burrito chain's American stores.

How to have perfectly healthy teeth without brushing

QZ.com

Modern dental hygiene would have been quite unnecessary for ancient Romans living in Pompeii, as research has revealed that they had impressively healthy teeth.

Scientists appointed by the Archaeological Superintendence of Pompeii have used CAT scans to examine 30 Pompeii inhabitants who were preserved in hardened ash after Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The group, headed by radiologist Giovanni Babino, released photos of their work on Sept. 29, and revealed in a press conference that the ancient Romans had perfect teeth and “no immediate discernible need for dentists,” according news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia.

Though Pompeii citizens never used toothbrushes or toothpaste, they had healthy teeth thanks to their low-sugar diet. Massimo Osanna, superintendent of the World Heritage-listed site, said their diet was “balanced and healthy, similar to what we now call the Mediterranean diet,” according to The Telegraph.

“The inhabitants of Pompeii ate a lot of fruit and vegetables but very little sugar,” said orthodontist Elisa Vanacore, who oversaw the examination of the teeth. “They ate better than we did and have really good teeth.”

Vanacore added that Pompeii citizens’ teeth would have benefitted from high levels of fluorine in the air and water near the volcano.

Studying teeth could help determine the age of the bodies examined and reveal more details about life in Pompeii. The scientists are hoping to analyze 86 plaster casts in total from Pompeii, and the research should ultimately uncover the age, sex, diet, diseases and social classes of the preserved Pompeii citizens.

But though the ancient Romans’ healthy teeth may come as a surprise, they aren’t the only historical group who are believed to have had better teeth than people today.

Despite the popular belief that the Tudors had poor dental hygiene (a stereotype largely owed to Queen Elizabeth I, who indeed had rotting teeth), most early Tudors had remarkably healthy teeth—once again because of the lack of sugar in their diet. When sugar production became common in Spain, France and Holland during the 1600s, the price dropped and sugar became a common feature of many Europeans’ diets.