Beer made from feces and urine are in the local market ?

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A post circulated on social media suggesting that there are beer made from feces and urine in the local market, and requesting the people to pay their attention to it. In fact, we conducted an investigation to determine the accuracy of this post, which has misled many people into believing that such products are distributed in this country using wastewater.

Social media posts :

A social media post circulated with the caption “Gota came and created a terrible country” (“ගෝඨා ඇවිල්ලා මාර රටක් බන් හැදුවේ”), citing a news story published in a mainstream media outlet.

The headline of that news article states, “Drink beer with caution. Beer made from feces and urine is now on the market”. (‘බියර් බොන්නෙ බලාගෙනයි. මළ, මුත්‍රා ජලයෙන් සැකසූ බියර් දැන් වෙළඳපොළේ’)

Facebook | Archived Link

Many people assumed that this news was a local incident, and shared many posts on Facebook.

Fact Check  :

First, we focused on the news that led to these social media posts.

It was an instance, where a news article published in the ‘Mawbima News’ was mentioned in the ‘Derana Aruna’ television program on the 29th.

Accordingly, it was not regarding a beer available for sale in the local market, but regarding a beer produced in Singapore.

An article in the Mawbima newspaper states that a brewery in Singapore, which is facing a water shortage as a large amount of water is required to make beer, has launched a beer called ‘Newbrew’, which is made by processing human feces and urine. Archived Link

Below is the video of ‘Derana Aruna’ program, which led to the above mentioned social media posts.

International media reports on this are here, here and here.

Here is a video of the launch of this product.

A new beer has been launched in Singapore, using recycled water and adhering to international standards, in conjunction with the Water week Conference, with regard to the Singapore International Water Week. Brewerkz Managing Director Ryan Yuen stated this, while emphasizing that safely recycled water is clean enough to be used in brewing beer.

The company has indicated that this beer can contains 95% NEWater, which is ultra-pure and high-grade recycled water, and 5% malt, hops, and yeast.

Here is an outline of how used water is collected and recycled according to high standards.

Singapore’s national water agency, PUB has stated that the NEWater process converts recycled water into ultra-pure, high-grade water, and NEWater began in 1970. You can refer more details about it here.

However, we have made an inquiry to the Additional Commissioner General of the Sri Lanka Excise Department, Mr. Kapila Kumarasinghe, to inquire whether this beer is being sold in the local market.

He stated that this specifc beer has not yet been imported to Sri Lanka and that if it is to be imported, brand name approval must be obtained through the Excise Department.

Accordingly, it is confirmed that this beer is not available in the local market.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation shows that the posts circulating on social media suggesting that beer made from feces and urine are for sale in the local market are not a local product or a type of beer that is imported, but a beer brand that is produced in Singapore.