There is now a sorghum grit available in grocery stores that is used as an extender for rice or prepared like cooked rice. Additional research is going on in other food use areas. Growing worldwide demand for American-style beers is good news for the U.S. barley industry. The Council is capitalizing on this opportunity by sponsoring malting barley brewing trials in various parts of the world through the Quality Samples Program. In the last issue of Global Update, you read about our efforts in Taiwan.
Activities are underway in China and Trinidad as well.
The Council shipped 15 containers of Harrington malting barley to two different brewers in China and we ve arranged for a U.S. consultant to help distribute the trial results to potential end-users and importers. One recipient of the initial sample has already begun exploring the possibility of commercial purchases from the United States. The Council also shipped six containers of Harrington malt to a leading Trinidadian brewer. Japan plans to require safety evaluations for all biotech feeds and feed additives and the Council has weighed in to ensure that such reviews are workable from both a scientific and a trade perspective. We also voiced concern that MAFF may, in the future, seek mandatory labeling of feeds containing GM materials.