Since when is kombucha an age restricted product?!

[GenuineWorkOfFart]

Just picked up a can of raspberry kombucha with my meal deal at a train station M&S, and had to wait for a store attendant to come and authorise my purchase to say I was over 16. I asked her why and she said "because it's fermented" which cannot possibly be correct, so is yoghurt FFS.

Anyway I wasn't about to argue with her because she won't be in charge of the policy but wtf? It can't be because of concerns over alcohol content because that would be 18+ not 16+. Caffeine? But it's probably got less in than coca cola and they don't restrict that

I had to have my non alcoholic gin and tonic authorised at Marks and Spencer.

In Asda they had to authorise a pair of reading glasses ‘off the peg’ , I asked why and the assistant said….’because they might be too strong’ 😂

That's weird. I regularly buy kefir, which is fermented, and I've never had to be approved at the self-service tills.

Never bought it at M&S though.

Can't think why fermented drinks would need to be age restricted.

It will probably be because it's been categorised in their inventory as an "energy drink", and M&S have a voluntary restriction on selling them to under 16s. You could try pointing out to their customer services that it's unlikely that there are hordes of young teens going around hopped up on Kombucha, and see if they might change it?

Some stores are just ridiculous.

I was not allowed to buy Aperol at Waitrose a while back because I had my 18yo daughter with me and she didn't have her ID on her.

I remember being pregnant and getting ID’d buying alcohol free beers. Shops have weird rules.

God only knows the restrictions on some products seem so arbitrary. I had to show ID a few weeks ago to buy cherry Dr pepper because it came us as an age restricted product, in fairness even the shop assistant was puzzled at that one.

I was not allowed to buy Aperol at Waitrose a while back because I had my 18yo daughter with me and she didn't have her ID on her.
That was completely wrong and they need more training. If there is a group of teens together you only asked ID for the one that is paying.

There’s alcohol in Kombucha 0.5% generally but my home made stuff gets as high as 3%

But in that case it would be an 18+ age restriction not a 16+ 🤔

(And yeah home made kombucha can totally be a bit boozy!!)

Was it a CBD version? I get ID’d fo CBD ones but not regular. Some shops like to limit to 18+.

Nope...

I got ID'd for Rice wine vinegar

There’s 0.5% alcohol in orange juice too… they don’t ID for that

No, you are not correct. Nobody should be ID ing one of a group of teens and selling them alcohol.

Yesterday in Sainsbury's DH bought several things and 2 monster energy drinks for work the next day (gross I know) and was pinged for ID, he is almost 50 but me and the kids (15,18) were with him and the assistant wanted to see all our IDs because we were with him :/ Then wouldnt let him buy the monster because the kids didn't have any ID.

No they don't. You ID every single member of a group buying alcohol. Just because the one buying might be over 18, half the rest of the party might be underage.

I've not long done my Age Restricted training, and I know this to be the case.

As to kombucha - we don't sell it, so I've never come up against that one, but I do know that zero alcohol drinks come up to ID because they have a small trace of alcohol in them because of the way they are made.

Yeah this also makes no sense though. Other food/drinks that have up to 0.5% alcohol in them:

Lemonade
Fruit juice
Ginger beer
Vinegar
Bread
Bananas

Most non alcoholic contain 0.5% alcohol, so yes it’s very low and labelled ‘alcohol free’ but it still contains alcohol

Yep, no idea either. I can only suppose that it's to discourage kids from starting off with the low alcohol drinks and working up. Not many fourteen year olds are bulk buying vinegar bread and bananas in an attempt to get drunk. But they most definitely will attempt to bulk buy energy drinks.

The fermentation produces natural alcohol, low amounts but it is still there plus it contains caffeine, some brands have less caffeine than Coke but some have more

How do people do their weekly shop with kids with them then?

If the kids are clearly kids, then it's obviously a parent doing their weekly shop. It's just that we, as shop assistants, are held personally responsible if an underage person is sold, or obtains (ie, by sending in someone overage to buy for them) alcohol or cigarettes. So we tend to play it safe, and most people understand and have their ID ready.

We don't want to be massively fined and lose our jobs. Have your ID on you.

I was refused wine once because I had my toddler with me. I was about 38 at the time. Such stupid rules, no common sense whatsoever

They can be stupid. And I would have sold you wine, toddler notwithstanding, in fact probably making wine more necessary. But some working in retail will adhere absolutely to the rules they have been given, because you only have to use 'benefit of the doubt' once in the wrong place and BAM, you're fined and fired.

It's like, if there's a group of teenagers outside the shop stopping adults and asking them to buy alcohol for them, we will refuse to sell any alcohol at all for a while, because we don't know who is buying for the kids and who isn't. Sometimes it looks stupid from the customer side, but it's really the retailers trying to protect themselves from prosecution.