Bottled beverages that are attractively labelled as “non-alcoholic” wine and beer are finding a market among teenagers in the State.
Johnson. R. Idayaranmula, director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, a non-profit organisation that campaigns for temperance and studies substance and alcohol abuse patterns in society, says such dubiously labelled drinks are a gateway to “more serious addictions.”
The oddly labelled beverages, which claim to reproduce the taste and fizz of beer and wine without the intrinsic inebriating effects of the original brews, have come to occupy the pride of place on shelves and refrigerators at confectionaries, supermarkets, and shopping malls. Their consumers include teenagers below the permissible age of drinking.
Excise enforcers say they are sceptical about whether the products are actually alcohol-free. If so, labelling and selling them as beer or wine tantamount to a technical breach of liquor laws.
A senior enforcer says that chemical tests of samples collected in 2013 have proved that some brands of “non-alcoholic” beer and wine contain a low amount and, perhaps, permissible level of alcohol seen in certain Ayurvedic products.
Jayaram Ani, owner of a 75-year-old bakery chain in the capital, says that some confectionaries stocked the product because the retailers offered a sizeable commission. But many bakeries are loath to retail the product, fearing legal repercussions.
Excise enforcers are empowered to take samples for chemical examination only from premises licensed to sell liquor. If they have to chemically examine the so-called “non-alcoholic” wine and beer products they will have to first book the owner, legally seize the suspect products as material evidence and send it for chemical examination through a court of law.
Hence, it has directed its enforcers to purchase a few such products for chemical examination prior to issuing an advisory to traders.
Excise enforces say they are sceptical about whether products are actually alcohol-free.
