AG Rules Uk Drink unfit for Minors – Associated Press

AG rules UK drink not fit for minors

HOULTON, Maine — The Maine Attorney General’s Office has ruled that a “botanically brewed beverage” that contains a small amount of alcohol is an imitation liquor and cannot be sold to minors in Maine.

State and local officials confirmed Thursday that Fentimans Victorian Lemonade, a product that contains less than 0.5 percent alcohol, falls under the category of “imitation liquor,” and cannot be sold to anyone under 21 years of age. By contrast, a typical American beer usually contains about 5 percent alcohol.

Officials from the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (ASAP) and the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse (MAPSA) have maintained that the beverage should be classified as imitation liquor since learning that a Houlton High School student brought a bottle of the lemonade to school several weeks ago.

Fentimans Victorian Lemonade was created in the United Kingdom in 1905 and now is distributed in the United States.

In England, company officials said the brouhaha in Maine is much ado about nothing.

“We see it as slightly absurd,” said Tiffany McKirdy, operations director at Fentimans, a specialty brewer in northern England.

A person would need to drink about 28 bottles of the lemonade to consume the amount of alcohol found in a typical pint of beer, McKirdy said.

Under Maine law, “imitation liquor” means “any product containing less than ½ of 1 percent alcohol by volume which seeks to imitate by appearance, taste and smell of liquor or which is designed to carry the impression to the purchaser that the beverage has an alcohol content.”

Imitation liquor cannot be sold to minors or consumed by minors in Maine. A minor found guilty of consuming imitation liquor faces a fine of between $200 and $400. Any person who violates the law by selling it to a minor commits a civil violation and faces up to a $500 fine.

A person would need to drink about 28 bottles of the lemonade to consume the amount of alcohol found in a typical pint of beer, McKirdy said.

Under Maine law, “imitation liquor” means “any product containing less than ½ of 1 percent alcohol by volume which seeks to imitate by appearance, taste and smell of liquor or which is designed to carry the impression to the purchaser that the beverage has an alcohol content.”

Imitation liquor cannot be sold to minors or consumed by minors in Maine. A minor found guilty of consuming imitation liquor faces a fine of between $200 and $400. Any person who violates the law by selling it to a minor commits a civil violation and faces up to a $500 fine.