Nitrosamines in Malt and Malt Beverages

National and local surveys of barley malt and barley malt-containing beverages for volatile N-nitrosamines were conducted by the Food & Drug Administration. Sixty-four samples of locally purchased beers had an average N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) content of 3 ppb. Eleven of 44 Scotch whiskeys had nondetectable NDMA levels. A national sampling of domestic and imported malts revealed that 84% had NDMA concentrations of less than 10 ppb. Domestic and imported beers were also surveyed in a compliance program; 260 beer samples (180 domestic, 80 import) were analyzed. The domestic beers averaged less than 1 ppb and the imported beers averaged 1 ppb. These data indicate that the levels of NDMA in beer have been reduced significantly.