They won\u2019t get you buzzed, but some experts say low-alcohol and alcohol-free beers and mocktails shouldn\u2019t be sold to minors, and they\u2019re calling for laws that curb underage sales to kids and teens. <\/p>\n
The market for nonalcoholic drinks has been growing as more people \u2014 notably younger adults \u2014 look to cut their alcohol use. In order to be considered nonalcoholic, these drinks have to contain less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. <\/p>\n
The sober-curious movement has given rise to ready-to-go drinks in cans and bottles that often look just like their boozy counterparts. There\u2019s a version of Budweiser beer called Budweiser Zero, for example, and a nonalcoholic version of Corona beer in the same signature longneck bottles. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a way to blend in for a lot of folks who are using these in social settings,\u201d said Dr. Molly Bowdring, an instructor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center. <\/p>\n
But the products may offer an entry point into drinking culture that some experts are worried could foster unhealthy habits. <\/p>\n
Actress Kristen Bell ruffled some feathers last year when she said on Kelly Clarkson\u2019s talk show that she lets her young daughters drink their dad\u2019s nonalcoholic beer at home. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re unlikely to lead to intoxication, but they contain many of the same cues as alcohol \u2013 so flavor, look, smell, experience of sipping and sometimes even the same brand as alcoholic beverages,\u201d said Bowdring, who recently published a commentary on the issue in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. <\/p>\n
If nobody\u2019s getting tipsy, what\u2019s the harm? Bowdring says there\u2019s emerging evidence that nonalcoholic beverages may prime kids to switch to the real thing. <\/p>\n
The research that\u2019s raising eyebrows comes from Japan, Taiwan and Australia. <\/p>\n
Surveys of elementary, middle and high school students in Japan, where the legal drinking age is 20, found that 20% to 30% said they were drinking nonalcoholic beverages. Additional studies in Japan found that elementary school students who said they drank nonalcoholic drinks were more interested in drinking alcohol than those who said they didn\u2019t have these kinds of beverages. <\/p>\n
Nonalcoholic beverage use in junior high and high school was linked to the likelihood that a person had had alcohol in the previous 30 days. <\/p>\n
In Taiwan, where the legal drinking age is 18, high schoolers who said they drank nonalcoholic beverages were more likely than those who didn\u2019t to express an intention to drink alcohol. <\/p>\n
In Australia, where the legal drinking age is 18, researchers conducted focus groups and surveyed teens ages 15 to 17 about the use of what they called zero-alcohol beverages. They found that more than a third had tried zero-alcohol drinks, and more than 1 in 5 were drinking them at least monthly. In the survey, teens who said they had tried zero-alcohol drinks were 2.5 times more likely to have also drunk alcohol compared with those who\u2019d never had them. <\/p>\n
Dr. Leon Booth, a research policy fellow at the George Institute for Global Health in New South Wales, Australia, said teens appear to be drinking these for a mix of reasons. Some were just curious about new products and tried them but didn\u2019t drink them frequently. Others, though, said they had used zero-alcohol drinks to fit in with older friends who were drinking. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are effectively role-playing drinking when they choose a zero-alcohol version of an alcoholic product, instead of a regular soft drink or something else obviously not alcoholic,\u201d Booth wrote in an email. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the focus group discussions, a few teens mentioned they had gotten used to the taste of beer by drinking zero alcohol versions, which suggests that zero alcohol beverages can acclimatise young people to the taste of alcoholic beer,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
The Distilled Spirits Council, a group that represents manufacturers of alcoholic drinks, said its members agree that nonalcoholic beverages that are made to look like the real thing shouldn\u2019t be consumed by kids and teens. <\/p>\n
\u201cNon-alcohol beverages using alcohol branding are made for adult consumption and many alcohol producers have committed to voluntarily print age restrictions on alcohol-free extensions of alcohol brands,\u201d Lisa Hawkins, a spokesperson for the council, wrote in an email. The group says it has no position on state-mandated age restrictions. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Budweiser echoed that sentiment. <\/p>\n
\u201c<\/em>Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding commitment to responsible drinking: all of our beers and non-alcohol beers are marketed to and intended for adults 21 years of age and older, and we operate in strict compliance with the Beer Institute\u2019s Advertising & Marketing Code,\u201d they said in a statement. <\/p>\n Constellation Brands, which markets Corona beverages, didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n Bowdring says there\u2019s little research on how often kids in the US may be drinking these, although she\u2019s working on a survey now. She also contacted officiais in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to see whether they regulate the sale of nonalcoholic beverages. It turns out most don\u2019t. <\/p>\n Twelve states limit the sale of nonalcoholic beverages to minors to some degree, Bowdring said, but her research suggests that most of these regulations were sort of accidental more than intentional. <\/p>\n \u201cMy read of the situation, having talked to a lot of folks, is that there weren\u2019t specific laws or policies written in for nonalcoholic beverages, but rather their definition of alcohol simply encompassed nonalcoholic beverages,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Georgia and Idaho don\u2019t sell nonalcoholic drinks to minors because they regulate based on the way a beverage is made, rather than by how much alcohol it contains. If it\u2019s brewed like beer, it\u2019s beer. <\/p>\n Florida and Kansas have a stricter definition than federal regulators. These states count any drink as alcoholic if it has any measurable amount of alcohol. So minors in those states can buy nonalcoholic drinks but not those with low levels of alcohol. <\/p>\n Overall, Bowdring said, there\u2019s a limited and concerning lack of restrictions on the sale of this category of beverages, given their potential association with alcohol use. <\/p>\n Nonalcoholic beverages may be good for adults who are trying to kick the habit or cut back on how much they drink, she said, but kids are a different story. <\/p>\n For minors, there\u2019s no benefit in consuming nonalcoholic drinks, and there is some evidence of potential harm, she said \u2014 which is why she thinks states need to step in to curb sales. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n They won\u2019t get you buzzed, but some experts say low-alcohol and alcohol-free beers and mocktails shouldn\u2019t be sold to minors, and they\u2019re calling for laws that curb underage sales to kids and teens. The market for nonalcoholic drinks has been growing as more people \u2014 notably younger adults \u2014 look to cut their alcohol use. 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