The Backer brewery was fined more than BRL 5 million by Mapa (Ministry of Agriculture) for having produced, bottled and sold, in 2020, 39 batches of beer with diethylene glycol or monoethylene glycol — liquids used, for example, in cooling tanks. beverage storage—, altering the composition of beers without authorization, and selling beer without registration.
The fine was also imposed for the fact that the company “has expanded and remodeled the registered industrial installation area without proper communication to Mapa” and “failed to respond to subpoenas, including the recall of products”, the ministry said.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, all resources to which Backer is entitled in the administrative sphere have been exhausted. The company did not say whether it intends to go to court to avoid paying the fine.
The ministry’s inspections took place from January 2020, after the first cases of intoxication in the capital of Minas Gerais were made public. Subsequent investigation found the problem among consumers of Belorizontina, one of the brewery’s brands.
Civil Police investigations concluded that the contamination was caused by diethylene glycol. According to the corporation’s expertise, the liquid, which circulated through cooling ducts around the tank that stored the beverage’s production, entered the reservoir via holes in the equipment.
The ministry claims to have seized, during inspections, 79,400 liters of beer of various brands with contaminants.
At least 29 people were infected. Ten died with kidney and neurological problems. Victims to this day need to undergo treatments such as hemodialysis to survive.
Eleven Backer directors and employees were indicted for involuntary manslaughter (when there is no intent to kill), bodily harm and food poisoning. The indictment was accepted by the court. The process takes place at the Forum Lafayette, the first instance of state justice in Minas Gerais.
To date, no compensation has been paid.
In a note, Backer states that the fine, which has the exact amount of BRL 5,099,193.00, was applied in 2021 and refers to events that occurred more than two years ago.
Also in a note, the ministry said that the finalization of the process took place at the end of April, when the last judgment was issued in the second instance (in the administrative scope); Backer had appealed.
Company authorized to resume production
In April 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture authorized the resumption of operation of part of the Backer factory. The plant was banned in January 2020 after, at the time, suspicions that there was a relationship between health problems presented by beer consumers and the Belorizontina brand.
The ministry’s justification was that “the company complied with the requirements made to guarantee the safety of the products, referring to the conditions of the fermentation tanks and equipment that will be used in this return”.
The ministry also said that the brewery replaced, in the production process, the refrigerant fluid for hydroalcoholic solution, which contains water and alcohol. At the time, the company informed that the return to the market would take place via the Capitão Senra brand.
In supermarkets in the south and central region of Belo Horizonte, at least for now, the brand is not found on the shelves.
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