MillerCoors and AB-InBev head to court over corn syrup ad

USA | There has to be an end to the corn-syrup-in-beer affair. But it is doubtful that a court ruling will provide it. On 21 March 2019 MillerCoors escalated its spat with AB-InBev’s unit Anheuser-Busch by filing a lawsuit in Wisconsin’s federal court. The brewer is seeking injunctive relief for what it calls “a false and misleading advertising campaign targeting Miller Lite and Coors Light.”

The feud between the country’s two biggest brewers, dubbed “Corngate”, began when Anheuser-Busch aired a commercial during Super Bowl, which delivered a broadside against MillerCoors for using corn syrup in its two big-selling beers.

Corn syrup is used by several brewers, including Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. But no corn syrup remains in the beers once fermentation is completed.

MillerCoors suspects that Anheuser-Busch is only using the corn syrup controversy to prey on health-conscious consumers, who sometimes confuse corn syrup with high-fructose corn syrup in foods, which are deemed “bad for you”.