0% alcohol drinks

[OptimisticRealist2024]

Facing many Christmas parties over the next few weeks and were it not for pregnancy, I'd be drinking cider or gin (or Aperol spritz 🤤).

Just wondered what the conventional wisdom was about alcohol free gin/cider and whether they were okay end of first trimester/beginning second trimester?

I asked my midwife and she told me no level of alcohol was known to be safe in pregnancy, which nearly made me scream. 🙄 I know some people have the odd glass of wine while pregnant, and have read Expecting better, but that's not for me.

I'm a bit fussy with drinks and wary of hidden caffeine, don't like anything too sweet (like J20) or cordials like lime and soda so seems a bit sad to just force those down if there are more delicious options out there...but can't help feeling there's a catch -- otherwise all pregnant women would just switch to alcohol free at parties?!

but can't help feeling there's a catch

With wine, none of the alcohol free stuff is as nice as alcoholic wine. That's the catch for me.
I don't know if non-alcoholic spirits are the same

When I was pregnant I found the alcohol free beers and ciders were really nice and tasted like the real thing. The alcohol free wines and Proseccos were gross in my opinion. I used to ask for virgin cocktails when I was out and they seemed to do the trick! Just avoid anything with grenadine as they are too sweet 😊 hope that helps!

Agree that the catch is alcohol free usually don't taste nice, particularly the wines. I had alcohol free beer at partys as it tastes the closest to the real thing. Just check lables on anything called alcohol free. It can still contain a small amount. 0.5%. Some women are fine with that, I decided to not have anything 0.5% but I'm fine with anything that says 0.05%. But that's a personal choice.

If you like aperol spritz, check out Pentire costal spritz. Mixed with tonic it looks and tastes very much like aperol and is delicious.

I know you ask about gin/cider but Nozecco and Belle & co are both pretty good wine alternatives. In the end nothing nothing tastes as good as alcohol but if you go into it thinking you're not drinking wine it's actually pretty good.

It can still contain a small amount. 0.5%. Some women are fine with that, I decided to not have anything 0.5% but I'm fine with anything that says 0.05%.

That's about the alcohol level of an overripe banana, and less than the alcohol level of a hot dog roll. 0.5% can't legally be called "alcohol free", for obvious reasons, but it is a negligible level of alcohol.

I don't think so, traces of ethanol have been found in breast milk after mums have drunk alcohol-free drinks so presumably would also cross the placenta. I think you'll just have to find another drink you tolerate, I normally go for blackcurrant cordial and lemonade and don't find it too sweet

Mocktails too I guess it’s just the sugar in them.

I am not pg but also not a big drinker. I often have the tonic without the gin, there are some lovely tonics around these days

There are "traces of ethanol" in virtually every ripe fruit and many breads. Achieving an absolute zero level of alcohol is basically impossible and not something you need to worry about.

You are fine to drink non-alcoholic beers and wines.

But is it worth the risk? Ripe fruits at least have a nutritional benefit. But if something did happen and your baby had challenges would you forever be wondering 'what if....', mum guilt is very real and personally I would avoid for the sake of one christmas. If others wouldn't that's fine and perhaps it's because I don't generally drink alcohol anyway so having a soft drink version is no big deal.

Some people mention these drinks still containing alcohol, but it can get a bit complicated if you want to get into the nitty gritty😂 People can get a bit passionate about the topic because when you look into the ingredients they usually aren't 0.0% ABV. This is because it's actually pretty hard to avoid alcohol in everyday things. In the UK there's legislation around the wording, so 'alcohol free' is the lowest you'll find, dealcoholised and low alcohol all have different percentages.

Alcohol free has no more than 0.05%. Fruit juice has anything from 0.04-0.5% (way more than the 0.05% in alcohol free drinks!!). And I'd hazard a guess that most pregnant women would consume fruit juice at one point or another. So it's the same ABV you'd consume without even realising it.

The wines are absolutely rotten so save your money. The gins tasted a bit gross to me but once mixed couldn't taste them so from that I'd say just have tonic water instead (in a gin glass to feel fancy🤭). The beers I found really nice.

There isn't a risk at that tiny, tiny concentration! And you absolutely cannot avoid consuming tiny quantities of alcohol in the course of eating a normal diet. Have some sense.

Alcohol is not cyanide. Consuming it in these tiny quantities is not in any way a risk. It would be far more of a risk to do the contortions required to try not to consume it in these miniscule amounts.

I love some of the "Lyres" alcohol free range. They do an Italian Spritz which is like Aperol, and isn't sweet like some I've tried. You can only buy it from Ocado though (or their own website). There's plenty of others in the range for christmas cocktails etc, but the Italian Spritz is my favourite.

Alcohol free Tanqueray – Flor de Sevilla
gin is lovely, we couldn't tell the difference

Some beers do have alcohol free on the label but the abv is 0.5, brewdog is one example.
And yes, fruits and breads can have that amount, and I wouldn't avoid them. It's all personal choice really.

I’ve yet to taste an alcohol free wine that tasted any good. There are some really good alcohol free beers, though, but that’s no help if you don’t like beer in the first place.

As for the trace 0.5% alcohol in some alcohol free drinks, it cannot be emphasised enough that this is less than you’d get in a banana.

My fave substitutes for alcohol are:
Martini Vibrante (aperol vibes)
Blood orange fever tree tonic
Sparkling elderflower
Tanqueray 0 is the best gin

The alcohol free gin is very nice. I drink it with lemonade as I don't like tonic.
Loads of pubs and restaurants sell it.

Yeah this. I used to work in the brewing industry and on a big project developing and launching an alcohol free beer - to be described as 'alcohol free', from a legal perspective, it had to have significantly lower levels of alcohol than eg a glass of orange juice has naturally. This is actually pretty tricky to achieve!

Absolute zero alcohol/ethanol is as @DreadPirateRobots says basically impossible in many 'non-alcoholic' drinks and foods. So if you'd be fine with an apple or a juice or a sandwich then you should have no concerns about alcohol free beer/wine/spirits.

If you like Aperol try Crodino - non alc version of aperol spritz from the same company. I like it more than the alc version!

Im a pub landlady, Gordon's O tastes like hairspray. Heineken 0 is OK, bit bitter, apparently Guinness 0 is the most alike to the alcoholic version.

Otherwise, we have a pregnant regular who has switched to Ginger Beer.

If you like lager then Corona Zero Is the best I have found. I've tried so many and this one is the closest to the original. It has to have a slice of lime in the bottle though.

I'm fully intending to have a (very) small glass of expensive champagne on Christmas day. A small amount of alcohol as a one-off won't do the baby any harm. Alcohol free beers vary in quality from very drinkable to disgusting, as do mocktails. Alcohol free wine is nasty. I don't like any prosecco so can't comment on that!

Hot spiced apple juice with 100% no added sugar juice works pretty well as a substitute for mulled wine. DH does add a slosh of brandy to his mug though!

While my DH is, obviously, not pregnant, he drinks the alcohol- free Brewdog beers. Nosecco is okay, not great but sometimes it's nice to have a glass of 'fizz'. I think the gins are the best personally. I liked having a 'gin and tonic' because it's not too sweet.

0% Tanqueray was the most palatable for me, I couldn't really notice a difference between that and the normal version!

Alcohol free wines and nosecco are really awful. I would avoid those at all costs. I don't drink beer or cider but lots of my friends drank becks blue in pregnancy and said it tasted identical to regular beer.