The popularity of no and low drinks continues to grow and with it the product range is expanding every year. In the UK’s pubs, bars and restaurants[1] (in the 12 months to June 2024) sales of no and low alcohol totalled around £180 million, a rise of 51% from a year ago. Whilst in the supermarkets, impulse convenience stores & forecourts[2], no and low alcohol sales worth £277 million, an increase of 18% from a year ago. Which is why the WSTA is working hard with its members to clear up how producers should describe their products to help consumers better understand what they are buying.
The low alcohol descriptors that are widely included on low and no alcohol drinks are not contained in legislation, instead they are defined in guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The current government approved descriptors are as follows:
| Low-alcohol | The drink must be 1.2% alcohol by volume (abv) or below and an indication of its maximum abv should be included on the label. |
| Non-alcoholic | This should not be used in conjunction with a name commonly associated with an alcoholic drink. There is an expection for non-alcoholic wine where it is derived from unfermented grape juice and is intended exclusively for communion or sacramental use. The labelling or advertising of these non-alcoholic wines should make clear that it is exclusively for such use. |
| Alcohol free | This should only be applied to adrink from which the alcohol has been extracted if it contains no more than 0.05% abv, and the products should also include the abv (or state that they contain no alcohol) on the label in order to use the descriptor. |
| De-alcoholised | This term should only be applied to a drink from which the alcohol has been extracted if it contains no more than 0.5% abv and the product should also include an indication of its alcohol strength (or state that it contains no alcohol). |
Looking at the amount of text, you could quite rightly assume that these descriptors are more complicated than they need be. A closer look confirms this and may also highlight the fact that a lot of products on sale in the UK today do not align with these.
There are potentially a couple of reasons for this misalignment:
- EU low alcohol descriptors differ to UK descriptors. While part of the EU, free movement of goods meant that low alcohol drinks labelled in accordance one Member States rules could legally be sold in any other Member State, including the UK.
- Advances in production processes and innovation means that low and no beverages are now the closest to their alcoholic counterparts, in terms of taste, aroma and appearance, as they have ever been. A lot of these beverages are made without the addition of alcohol.
The key to the continued growth of the low and no sector lies in both product innovation and consumer understanding. As a trade association, the WSTA are keen to support growth in the low and no sector and help ensure our members can produce low and no alternatives to satisfy customer demands and to be able to market these effectively.
The WSTA want to see simple, mutually exclusive low alcohol descriptors that align with those used in the EU and other countries. We are calling for descriptors that reflect advances in production processes, that recognise that alcohol may not be used as an ingredient, that better reflect consumer understanding of the terms used and one’s that align with general food labelling rules. Our goal, as agreed with our members, is to see producers label future low and no alcohol drinks in accordance with the following descriptors:
| Abv bands | Appropriate Descriptor |
|---|---|
| Less than or equal to 0.05% abv (≤ 0.05% abv) | 0.0% |
| More than 0.05% and less than or equal to 0.5% abv (>0.05% abv and ≤ 0.5% abv) |
Alcohol-free OR Non-alcoholic |
| More than 0.05% and less than or equal to 0.5% abv (>0.05% abv and ≤ 0.5% abv) Requirement to remove / reduce alcohol. |
De-alcoholised |
| More than 0.5% abv and no more than 1.2% (>0.5% abv and ≤ 1.2% abv) | Low alcohol |
Note: we recommend increasing the abv tolerance for the descriptor alcohol free from a maximum of 0.05% to 0.5% so that this aligns with current nutrition and health claim rules, both in the UK and EU. Foods that include the nutrition claim ‘Fat free’ or ‘Sugar free’ must comply with the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulations which stipulate ‘no more than 0,5 g fat/sugar per 100 g or 100 ml’ when using these claims.
[1] CGA by NIQ On Premise Measurement (OPM) | Total Liquor value | MAT up to W/E 07/09/2024
[2] NIQ Off-trade Retail Measurement Service data | Total Liquor value | MAT up to W/E 07/09/2024
