About “Alcohol Free”
It's important to know what is meant when we refer to the various terms to describe wine and beers with the alcohol taken out. This is particularly so for people who avoid alcohol for any number of reasons - be that religious, health, medications or those that just simply choose not to drink alcohol.
Here in New Zealand the Government regulations specify that a beverage containing equal to or less than 0.5% per litre (half a percent) ABV (Alcohol By Volume) is classed as Non Alcoholic. That's why this website uses the term Alcohol Free because all our drinks are in that 0.0% to 0.5% ABV parameter.
So why do we have different terminology? Good question and basically the answer is this:
Non alcoholic is a beverage that in its production process is neither fermented nor brewed, such as lemonades, Sparkling Grape Juices natural fruit juices.
De alcoholised and alcohol removed have gone through the fermenting/brewing process and then the alcohol has been extracted.
As at today, you cannot have an alcohol free / de alcoholised / alcohol removed wine less than 0.1% because for it to be a wine it must have been fermented and there will always be a residual amount of alcohol remaining. Beers are different because you can have 0.0% to 0.5% ABV.
Just to throw a spanner in the works, an ordinary glass of fresh orange juice can naturally contain up to 0.5% alcohol. Malt vinegar you put on your chips is about 0.2% alcohol, in fact, if I was to hazard a guess you could easily find 100's of products in your local supermarket that will contain a level of alcohol no matter how small.
