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Article: Cycloheximide shortage feared imminent.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Modern Brewery Age
- Article date:
- July 3, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Business Journals, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Brewing Research International (BRI) of Surrey England reports that industry stocks of cycloheximide, a Fungicide antiobiotic used for checking yeast quality, are dwindling fast.
Tanabe Seiyaku, the chemical company in Osaka, Japan that holds the sole rights to manufacture the substance, does not make it anymore, since the substance was found to cause cancer and birth defects.
Mark Lee of BRI told the New Scientist that cycloheximide is added to samples of brewer's yeast to test for bacteria that would otherwise spoil beer. "The compound kills off yeast but not the bacteria which make your beer smell and taste awful."
Lee said that supplies of ...