Replies

"..................remarks about French horror over her use of propylene glycol."

"This is the result of a guilty national conscience. Some years ago,
some French wine producers adulterated their product with *eth*ylene
glycol, which has a sweet taste. (Since it is not detected as added
sugar, it evaded the checks that the industry imposed in order to make
sure their wine is pure.)"

"Unfortunately, ethylene glycol, which is also used in antifreeze, is a poison: the kidneys convert it to oxalic
acid, which destroys the kidneys. Leaking sweet antifreeze regularly kills many cats and dogs each year."

"It was a great scandal and embarrassment to the French."

I couldn't find the original news report of the scandal...only this reference to the scandal...

My google search string just wasn't good enough I guess..

Semper Fi

There was a similar scandal in Germany about 1978-80. The German Wine Purity Law (why do the words "German" and "Purity Law" in the same sentence send a shiver down the spine?) prevented the use of sugars, so the winemakers substituted ethylene glycol to sweeten the wines. This process was not limited to the inexpensive brands, IIRC. German wines took a major hit in the market, from which they never really recovered.

They test for Ethylene Glycol in German wines now, but they are still reletively inexpensive. But I just pulled the last German bottle from the rack this week, though. Better Portugese wines are an adequate substitute, especially on the second bottle.