Is non-alcoholic beer, cider and wine subject to the same licensing laws as the real stuff?

[AY1975]

Do you know if non-alcoholic beer, cider, wine and the like is subject to the same licensing laws as the real stuff, such as needing a licence to sell it and having to be aged 18 or over to buy it or to drink it on licensed premises?

On the one hand, some cafés and restaurants don't sell alcohol but do sell non-alcoholic beer and wine. On the other hand, I have noticed that when I buy non-alcoholic beer and wine from my local Tesco if I use the self-service checkout I still get a voice saying "we need to approve this item when you pay" in the same way as when I buy normal beer or wine.

 

[Russel]

Must be subject to the same Tax/VAT as its usually the same price as the real thing!

 

[Bletchleyite]

If it's 0.5% or less, then it's a soft drink (e.g. Shandy Bass which can be and often is sold to children). If it's more then it's an alcoholic drink.

I think most organisations just do it by product code and so all of it is treated as alcohol, but by law it needn't be.

Must be subject to the same Tax/VAT as its usually the same price as the real thing!

It's just more profitable! Soft drinks cost similar prices to alcohol in pubs, as most of the price isn't paying for the drink but rather the upkeep of the pub.

 

[Gloster]

Something that hasn’t bothered me for years. I think that there are no restrictions on alcohol-free or de-alcoholised beers, as they are both less than 0.5% ABV, which is the limit. Low-alcohol beer is up to 1.2%, but as that is over 0.5%, it has to be approved. However, it is quite possible that there is just a blanket ban on anything from the alcohol sections of the shop. (I am no expert: I just consume the stuff.)

 

[Bletchleyite]

However, it is quite possible that there is just a blanket ban on anything from the alcohol sections of the shop.

I believe that's the case, just to keep things simple for everyone.

There's not a huge difference in concept between a bottle of Schloer and a non alcoholic Kopparberg, say, other than that one's grape and one's apple, but as the former is sold from the soft drinks aisle it will be sold to children, but the latter won't.

 

[Ken X]

Funnily enough I had this chat with the cashier at my local supermarket recently. She got asked to age check me as I had some cooking wine in my shop. We checked and the bottle was clearly marked "no alcoholic content". It was in the sauces isle so we assumed somebody in the computerised system entry team had classified it as Wine. Made us chuckle though.

 

[DelayRepay]

Funnily enough I had this chat with the cashier at my local supermarket recently. She got asked to age check me as I had some cooking wine in my shop. We checked and the bottle was clearly marked "no alcoholic content". It was in the sauces isle so we assumed somebody in the computerised system entry team had classified it as Wine. Made us chuckle though.

I once got an age check when buying a packet of teaspoons. Apparently they were coded as cutlery which also includes knives, and the age restricted flag applied to the whole category.

 

[Gloster]

There is also the principle that, because of the hefty sanctions for selling alcohol to minors, it is better just to demand proof of age for everything either called or looking like alcohol. The alternative is that the staff have to remember which ones don’t need checking, but if they get it wrong the result can be costly. Yes, I know barcodes ought to avoid this problem, but do you want to take a chance with your sales if there is a cack-up?

 

[Bletchleyite]

And do you want the adverse publicity of a 10 year old walking out of your shop swigging what looks like a bottle of beer?

 

[Gloster]

And do you want the adverse publicity of a 10 year old walking out of your shop swigging what looks like a bottle of beer?

There are plenty of places where your sales would be increased as the local ten year-olds realise they can buy it rather than try, and fail, to nick it.

 

[kristiang85]

I was ID'd last year (at 36!) for non-alcoholic beer in the supermarket. Obviously I didn't have any, so I wasn't allowed to purchase. It irked me somewhat!

 

[Gloster]

I was asked ten or twelve years ago in the Co-op in Ryde: I was about fifty and looked older. The lad who asked me did appear extremely dim and didn’t seem to know why he was asking. One of the supervisors came over and OK’ed me, raising her eyebrows to me as she did so.

 

[route101]

I was ID'd last year (at 36!) for non-alcoholic beer in the supermarket. Obviously I didn't have any, so I wasn't allowed to purchase. It irked me somewhat!

Thats why I always carry ID around!

 

[Busaholic]

Funnily enough I had this chat with the cashier at my local supermarket recently. She got asked to age check me as I had some cooking wine in my shop. We checked and the bottle was clearly marked "no alcoholic content". It was in the sauces isle so we assumed somebody in the computerised system entry team had classified it as Wine. Made us chuckle though.

If you go to Sainsbury's and buy Bonne Maman Rhum Babas, you'll get age checked at the self-service too: happened twice to me now! By the way, having had years of buying 'non alcoholic' drinks for my wife, even those marked as 'zero alcohol' can contain 0.01% (some wines) or 0.03% (Heineken beer) for instance and remain within regulations on branding. My wife was fastidious in rejecting any such I brought home, until I explained to her the difference between 0.01 and 0.1% and that the manufacturers concerned had stated it was impossible to achieve absolute zero alcohol. After all, it's not like the effect of nut traces to those with a nut allergy, so far as I know.

 

[najaB]

It can be very random - my ex once got ID'd when buying Vitamalt.

 

[A Challenge]

I was asked ten or twelve years ago in the Co-op in Ryde: I was about fifty and looked older. The lad who asked me did appear extremely dim and didn’t seem to know why he was asking. One of the supervisors came over and OK’ed me, raising her eyebrows to me as she did so.

I was told earlier in the year at Aldi it was policy to ID anyone buying alcohol, even pensioners - not sure if that was just that supermarket or a company wide policy

 

[Busaholic]

I was told earlier in the year at Aldi it was policy to ID anyone buying alcohol, even pensioners - not sure if that was just that supermarket or a company wide policy

I've had that (aged 74, and look it). I only half jokingly asked if there was now an upper age limit too?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I was told earlier in the year at Aldi it was policy to ID anyone buying alcohol, even pensioners - not sure if that was just that supermarket or a company wide policy

Never been asked for ID at an Aldi though it could be individual store policy.

 

[david1212]

I was told earlier in the year at Aldi it was policy to ID anyone buying alcohol, even pensioners - not sure if that was just that supermarket or a company wide policy

Never been asked for ID at an Aldi though it could be individual store policy.

I've never been asked either.

 

[PeterC]

I was told earlier in the year at Aldi it was policy to ID anyone buying alcohol, even pensioners - not sure if that was just that supermarket or a company wide policy

Reminds me of a scene in I Love Lucy from the 50s. Lucille Ball is asked for id in a restaurant. She preens herself and says "do I really look under 21". Waiter replies "oh no, company rule, we ask all the ladies"

When my daughter asked for id at the age of 32 she didn't consider it a compliment

 

[route101]

Never been asked for ID at an Aldi though it could be individual store policy.

Store might have failed a test purchase recently. I have seen stores lose their licence to sell booze temporarily+ .

 

[Bletchleyite]

Reminds me of a scene in I Love Lucy from the 50s. Lucille Ball is asked for id in a restaurant. She preens herself and says "do I really look under 21". Waiter replies "oh no, company rule, we ask all the ladies"

When my daughter asked for id at the age of 32 she didn't consider it a compliment

My sister still gets asked and she is 40. She does consider it a compliment.

I have never been asked other than in cases where they were asking everyone, not even when underage, though I did get refused once by a member of staff who knew I was. I think being tall did it.

 

[birchesgreen]

I didn't get asked for ID when i was 16...

 

[nw1]

My sister still gets asked and she is 40. She does consider it a compliment.

I was asked at that age, but in the USA. I saw it as a pretty serious complement! I was also denied entry to a nightclub in the USA aged 30 because I didn't have ID.

Never been IDed in the UK once, even when I was 19 or 20 (and at that age I could have passed for 16, so being asked would have been reasonable). Mind you I never got a passport until I was almost 21, so the only things I would have had would have been a student card, which didn't have DOB (but could be evidence of being over 18 I guess), or YPRC, which I think had DOB on it.

 

[TheEdge]

I'm 31 and I occasionally get ID'd for alcohol if I'm at a self checkout and its the majority/only thing I'm buying. I very rarely get asked if its mixed into a big shop.

Although my local Hobbycraft absolutely loves to ID me for Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. I promise I'm not huffing it.

 

[westv]

I have never been asked for age verification but then again, I am 59.

 

[johntea]

I think some self checkouts now have some sort of facial scanning built in to try and 'guess' if you're old enough based on biometrics without requiring a member of staff

I suspect in most cases if someone that looks over 25 has no ID and gets asked at one supermarket then gets their purchase denied they'll just nip to the next one 5 minutes away and so on until they do get served to be honest!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think some self checkouts now have some sort of facial scanning built in to try and 'guess' if you're old enough based on biometrics without requiring a member of staff

I suspect in most cases if someone that looks over 25 has no ID and gets asked at one supermarket then gets their purchase denied they'll just nip to the next one 5 minutes away and so on until they do get served to be honest!

Though realistically the vast majority of adults who drive just carry their photo driving licence.

 

[westv]

Though realistically the vast majority of adults who drive just carry their photo driving licence.

I never have my driving licence on me but maybe I am that part of the minority.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I never have my driving licence on me but maybe I am that part of the minority.

There is indeed a minority that doesn't, made up of adults who neither drive nor are learning to nor have driven even if they don't have a car now, of the tiny number who still have paper licences, and of those who fundamentally object to carrying ID. It would be hard to work out numbers but I suspect it's (a) a very small proportion of adults, and (b) is heavily skewed towards 50+ who are less likely to need ID for alcohol to start with, as they won't be asked because they look young and are unlikely to go clubbing where they often ask for it from everyone for a different reason - to record a photo and name etc of everyone in there so they know who it is in the event of a crime being committed and pulled up on the CCTV. Shops that are checking everyone because they have recently got stung are very small in number, in my whole life it's happened to me exactly once. More common to check everyone in the USA for example.