Why do they have to confirm my age when I buy AF alternatives?

[afaloren]

I like AF ‘martini’ and ‘gin’ etc. When I buy them they don’t ask for ID exactly (I wish) but they do have to confirm I look over 25. Why? Do they think underage people buying them will be led to buy real booze?

Some alcohol free is a little alcohol in it, maybe because of that??
Maybe also something to do with the look of children drinking from bottles that look identical to booze bottles??

Likely a computer says no situation. AF drinks are still probably in the alcohol category and it’s too much of a PITA to put them in a different one.

I’ve seen low-alcohol wine but the ‘spirits’ I buy say 0.0% on the label. I can see with the cans of mixed drinks though, might be easy to mix them up.

That’s a good point actually, it annoys me that you have to walk down the booze aisle to find them. That could be a big problem for some people.

AF drinks are still "adult" drinks. You wouldn't give a guiness 0.0 to a child.
I don't drink anymore but I love getting some snazzy grown up AF drinks in the alcohol aisle.

It’s to prevent confusion by retailers, because the products look exactly the same in many cases as the alcoholic equivalent. And in early sobriety, AA discourage these lookalikes - partly because a trip down the alcohol aisle isn’t a great idea and also because of the associations. So you’re right about it being a problem for some people.

It’s weird isn’t it. My mum can’t drink alcohol due to the medication she is on so I picked up a few bottles of alcohol free wine for her the other day. Went through the self serve checkout and had to get an assistant to approve it for me.

In my Tesco the AF mixed drinks in cans are with the booze and the boozy ones are with the Coke! Bizarre choice.

https://www.servelegal.co.uk/news/id-for-alcohol-free-drinks

Both the RASG and the Portman Group, which governs alcohol labelling, recommend applying age verification policies like Challenge 25 to alcohol-free products.
The reasoning is twofold:

1. Preventing Misunderstanding and Confusion: Since alcohol alternatives often resemble their alcoholic counterparts in branding and packaging, ID checks reduce the potential for mistakes that could lead to underage customers buying actual alcoholic products.
2. Maintaining Social Responsibility: Even though it’s legal for under-18s to purchase these drinks, some argue it could appear irresponsible, tarnishing a retailer’s reputation within the community or with regulatory bodies.

My son got refused a sale of grenadine and other alcohol free mixers, because they were categorised in the alcohol section, even tho they dont have a whiff of alcohol in them. Madness!

It isn't the staff's fault. They are given rules by their employer they have to follow.

@FettchYeSandbagges to an extent but they can use common sense.

I was once ID'd for tobacco when I was very obviously old enough. The shop assistant agreed I was over 18, but thought I looked under 25 (I was 40, it was not a compliment) and said that unless I could prove I was over 25 he wouldn't sell it to me. Despite being happy I was over 18. It was nonsense!

I had the same issue at Morrisons a few years back buying sugar syrup. They refused to sell it to me because it was found in the alcohol section. No amount of me telling them it's literally sugar water would change their mind.

Sometimes I think common sense has completely gone out of the window.

I sometimes but cans of Kombucha from M&S. They're in the fridge with all the lunch stuff. I still need to be approved before I can pay. It says on the label there may be traces of alcohol but makes no sense why it's with the lunch things but other AF stuff is separate.

My teenage DD was refused a mocktail with her meal in a restaurant (she was with us) last week. The waiter said it’s because they have alcohol traces in and aren’t truly 0%. She’s often ordered mocktails in other restaurants without issue so I guess this was just this particular restaurant’s policy. It was fine, she had a lemonade, just unexpected.

That’s interesting I was in a pub once and some kids went up to the bar for mocktails. The bar staff asked their parents to come up and agree but they did make them.

No, we can't use common sense.

If we let someone through and management are on the floor and think (quite often from quite a distance) that we should have age-checked someone, they will Have A Word. So we age check anyone we might have any uncertainty about. If you've seen a bunch of teenage girls in full make up, they can look forty five, so it's always wisest for us to age check if there is even the slightest modicum of doubt.

Always keep your ID on you and it's all good.

I buy alcohol free Gordon's gin (lovely) in waitrose using the scanner and it does not trigger a check-alcohol and things like paracetamol do.

If they don't do what their boss tells them to do, they get the sack. Part-time zero hours jobs are precarious.

It's because it's categorised in the alcohol department on the epos system. You can't buy 0% alcohol free beer before 10am either (Scotland), which is very annoying!

You can send a 7 year old in at 8am to buy alcoholic chocolates though.

No you can't.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/section/148/enacted

Do you want a school child buying AF beer?

I really struggle to see the issue.

As for those people that take offence and kick off when asked for IF, they really are the most selfish idiots.

Interesting! Liqueur chocolates go through the self checkout no bother at my local shop!

Are they flavoured? As there is a difference between flavoured alcohol and containing alcohol.

Less mad then age verification to buy a glue stick from the childrens craft section.

Which DD needed for school.