Japanese liquor 'Shochu' dregs make their way into pig feed

Kagoshima Prefecture is famous for its "imo shochu," made from sweet potatoes. But with its rise in popularity has come the problem of disposing of the dregs.

One bottle of shochu generates as much as two bottles of waste. A record 480,000 cu. meters of residue was generated during the 12-month period to June as output of the liquor continued to increase for the sixth consecutive year.

Hiroshi Kawaida, a 62-year-old training manager at an agriculture improvement and extension center in the town of Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, has mixed the leftovers into pig feed.

He said that after giving the shochu feed to pigs, the animals get a good night's sleep.

While the pigs might become slightly intoxicated from the small amount of alcohol, he said using the dregs in the mixture could cut feeding costs by as much as 30 percent.

Some liquor makers and farmers are following suit after seeing from Kawaida's research that the dregs are rich in vitamin E, which helps keep pork fresh.

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Source: The Japan Times

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