Kingway beer from China is "FREE" FROM FORMALDEHYDE - or so the back label claims. Now, this is quite a disturbing label to put on a beer and the wording of the sentence leaves much to be desired, but keep in mind that this is a product from a Chinese (ShenZhen Kingway Brewery Company) brewery so translation errors might be an issue here. Back to the "free" from formaldehyde claim, it disconcerts me that they put inverted commas around the word free, which seems to suggest that it is not exactly, completely free from formaldehyde.
It's like: You take a drink, put it down, see a label at the back and read "drink moderately" and think yeah, standard disclaimer and then read ""free" from formeldehyde" and think wtf man?? I was just enjoying my drink and now you've given me pause...
However, a search leads to an article that says that this disturbing label stems from a commercial in Taiwan where Kingway beer claims to be the first beer brewery from China to not use formaldehyde as a preservative. Formaldehyde, if you did not know, is a potentially carcinogenic agent and generally is not a good idea to ingest.
Anyway, fear not, drinkers of Kingway beer. The product seems to be free from formaldehyde, not "free" from formaldehyde as the unfortunate translation came out. It prompted indignant replies from other Chinese beer manufacturers like TsingTao whom also claims they have not been using formaldehyde in their brewing process for decades and that the ads are misleading as they suggest Kingway is the only brewery to discard the practise.
Bottles up, friends, it seems that Kingway beer is safe to drink. :) It retails at a decidedly affordable price point at RM 5 per bottle (640 ml) of full strength (5.0 % Alc) beer.
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