On Feb 27, 10:37*am, True North wrote:
On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 11:29:04 AM UTC-4, True North wrote:
On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 11:21:01 AM UTC-4, JustWaitAFrekinMinute! wrote:

On 2/27/2013 9:38 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:

Budweiser waters down its beer, lawsuit alleges

Beer lovers across the U.S. have accused Anheuser-Busch of watering down

its Budweiser, Michelob and other brands, in class-action suits seeking

millions in damages.

The suits, filed in Pennsylvania, California and other states, claim

consumers have been cheated out of the alcohol content stated on labels.

Budweiser and Michelob each boast of being 5 percent alcohol, while some

"light" versions are said to be just over 4 percent.

The lawsuits are based on information from former employees at the

company's 13 U.S. breweries, some in high-level plant positions,

according to lead lawyer Josh Boxer of San Rafael, Calif.

"Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have

informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their

products mentioned (in the lawsuit) are watered down," Boxer said. "It's

a simple cost-saving measure, and it's very significant."

The excess water is added just before bottling and cuts the stated

alcohol content by 3 percent to 8 percent, he said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev called the claims "groundless" and said its beers

fully comply with labeling laws.

"Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We

proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have

made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world," Peter Kraemer,

vice president of brewing and supply, said in a statement.

The suit involves 10 Anheuser-Busch products: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud

Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager,

King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime.

Anheuser-Busch, based in St. Louis, Mo., merged with InBev in 2008 to

form the world's largest alcohol producer, headquartered in Belgium.. In

2011, the company produced 10 billion gallons of malt beverages, 3

billion of them in the U.S., and reported $22 billion in profits from

that category, the lawsuit said.

AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois, controls 39 percent

of the U.S. beer market.

According to the lawsuit, the company has sophisticated equipment that

measures the alcohol content throughout the brewing process and is

accurate to within one-hundredth of a percent. But after the merger, the

company increasingly chose to dilute its popular brands of beer, the

lawsuit alleged.

"Following the merger, AB vigorously accelerated the deceptive practices

described below, sacrificing the quality products once produced by

Anheuser-Busch in order to reduce costs," said the lead lawsuit, filed

Friday in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of consumers in the

lower 48 states.

Companion suits are being filed this week in Pennsylvania, New Jersey

and elsewhere. Each seeks at least $5 million in damages.

The named Pennsylvania plaintiffs, Thomas and Gerald Greenberg of

Ambler, said they buy six cases of the affected Anheuser-Busch products

a month. They did not immediately return a message Tuesday, and Boxer

would not elaborate on their purchases except to say the

consumer-protection suit does not involve retailers or bar owners.

One of the California plaintiffs, Nina Giampaoli of Sonoma County, said

she bought a six-pack of Budweiser every week for the past four years.

"I think it's wrong for huge corporations to lie to their loyal

customers I really feel cheated. No matter what the product is, people

should be able to rely on the information companies put on their

labels," Giampaoli said in a news release issued by Boxer's law firm.

Bloomberg News first reported Tuesday on the lawsuits.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Boxer said he has

evidence to corroborate the former employees' allegations, but stopped

short of saying the beers had been independently tested.

"AB (Anheuser-Busch) never intends for the malt beverage to possess the

amount of alcohol that is stated on the label. As a result, AB's

customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly

enriched by the additional volume it can sell," the lawsuit said.

- - -

Probably didn't happen when the Bud brand was a proud American brand

owned by the Busch family. Never liked the brands, but I know a lot of

people did.

Probably some kind of wildcat action by the union...

You, my...you couldn't sound any stupider than you do.

It must come naturally, as you're not known for working hard at anything.

D'oh......that should be 'my, my'

Gumby shows his stupidity...AGAIN.....