A few weeks ago I noticed that my local Cyber Candy store in Brighton had removed all root beers from their shelves (although I could see them in a back cupboard). I instantly thought that the store wanted to concentrate maybe on sweets or other products due to profit. I tweeted my disapointment quoting them:
Very disappointed to see @Cybercandy_BR has stopped selling #rootbeer again. Can only assume sales have been down. Sort it out!
— Rob's RootBeerreview (@Rootbeeruk) September 14, 2014
Not expecting a response I received these replies later in the day:
@Rootbeeruk hey :) It's not us it's the E.U!We've had to get all U.S sodas checked as they have different levels of the preservative ..tbc
— Cybercandy Brighton (@Cybercandy_BR) September 17, 2014
And...
@Rootbeeruk sodium benzoate than permitted under UK law. We hope we'll have most of them back soon :) We've got a make your own kit though:)
— Cybercandy Brighton (@Cybercandy_BR) September 17, 2014
So, what's going on?
Unfortunately, for root beer fans, Cyber Candy and other shops should no longer be selling root beers identified to have more than the allowed quota of sodium benzoate. According to Wikipedia it says that Benzene in soft drinks is of potential concern due to the carcinogenic nature of the benzene molecule. This means something that can cause cancer! Ok, let's not get all Daily Mail here and I would suspect that you would have to drink this continuously in litres for years until something seruous like this would happen.To be honest you have to be a nutrionist to truly undertstand what's in the root beers that means the ban to being imported.
So, root beer hasn't been banned?
Forgive the attention-grabbing headline but it appears that some brands of root beer have stopped being imported. I've checked with a contact with American Fizz and there's still hope for root beer fans.Tom Turner from American Fizz confirmed that:
"... this affects all varieties of Root Beer imported from the United States including A&W, Barq's and Faygo. These varieties are no longer available for sale and unless the regulations surrounding Sodium Benzoate change, which they are not likely to, these drinks will not be returning."
I asked Tom if he thought US manufacturers would consider changing their recipes and ingredients to compensate for this UK and European law. He said:
"Unfortunately not. We have spoken to a few US manufacturers in the hope that they will adjust their formula for sale in Europe. We were met with very cold responses that were basically along the lines of “You are too small for us to even consider modifying our formula”. "
And another contact I have in the industry said that Rob's Root Beer Review favourite Goose Island had "3 times" the amount of sodium benzoate allowable so we'll never see that again in the UK!
US manufacturers not bothered about international markets
Since I started this blog and visiting websites for US manufacturers of root beer and I got the sense that marketing activities have been kept to a minimum since their websites look dated and very out of date with old news. Could it be fair (and worth a groan at) to say that the US market for root beer has lost its fizz? I know from Twitter activity that there are some passionate people out there in the UK who love root beer and even some restaurants serve it could be caught out by this change in law. So with every threat there's an opportunity for another. Therefore if any ambitious US manufacturers out there are reading this then now's the chance to change and take a chance on new markets like the UK and Europe.
So what can I buy now with this ban in place
American Fizz has taken the initiative to find new root beers that do have the allowed amount of sodium benzoate. Virgil's Gourmet Root Beer will soon be sold on their website.Another highly rated root beer not affected by this import ban is Dominion Root Beer as confirmed by Heathwick Ltd, their official importer.
Otherwise, you can check with your local or favourite online shop. Existing stocks of root beer whatever your favourite brand may still be available but not for long!
