ZERO per cent beers are likely to be made stronger to try to convert more drinkers to healthier alternatives.
Ministers want to bump up the legal limit for an alcohol-free tipple from 0.05 per cent ABV to 0.5 per cent.
1
They say it would match standards in Europe and the US, boosting the market and giving drinkers more options.
Brewers say they can get closer to the taste of classic booze with the extra leeway.
Rob Fink, of Big Drop Brewing, said: “0.5 per cent may only be a trace of alcohol but it makes all the difference to taste.”
The market for low-alcohol drinks is booming — three in ten of us buy them semi-regularly.
READ MORE MONEY NEWS
Studies have found no or low- alcohol versions slash the damage booze inflicts on the body.
The Department of Health is running an eight-week consultation on rule changes, which could also force manufacturers to display ABV on low-strength bottles.
Matt Lambert, from the Portman Group, which is funded by the drinks industry, said: “We welcome the new consultation, which we hope will encourage further uptake of low and no alcohol alternatives.”
Guinness ‘pint’ row brewing
A ROW is coming to a head over new pint cans of Guinness.
Most read in Money
The brewer boasts of its Guinness Draught: “New size. 538ml. Perfect for your pint glass.”
But customers have pointed out that a pint is actually 568ml.
One commented: “Anything below 568ml fits perfectly in a pint glass. It just may not fill it.”
Others said the 538ml size allows room for the foamy head.
But another drinker added: “Marked pint glasses have a line at 568ml with space for the head to sit atop.”
Guinness did not comment but an insider said the cans would fill a pint glass after the “surge and settle”.
