A couple of weeks ago I was shopping in a supermarket with my father. We were buying non-alcoholic beer, but no alcohol. The clerk who was ringing up our bill asked for a birthday. I think she meant me, but I told her my father was the one paying for the bill. This actually surprised me. Why would they have to card for non-alcoholic beer? That is my first question. My second question is, is it legal for minors under 21 to drink n/a beer in the U.S.? And finally, what is the legal status of n/a beer in the U.S.? Is it technically considered an alcoholic beverage (which would be kind of stupid, since it obviously isn’t)?
Differents states have different rules regarding N/A beer. In PA it’s sale is restricted to over 21s, but can be sold in any supermarket (beer can’t normally be sold in grocery stores in PA). It’s the same deal for “alchohol removed” wine (as opposed to sparkling juice).
There’s no such thing as non-alcoholic beer, unless you mean root or birch. What people usually think of as “non-alcoholic” beer is actually just very low alcohol-- It’s somewhere in the 0.5% or 1% range.
Depends on the state, for Wisconsin the law is as follows:
Section 125.02, Wis. Stats., classifies “alcohol beverages”
as those beverages containing 0.5% or more
alcohol by volume. Beverages that contain less than
0.5% alcohol by volume are not classified as “alcohol
beverages”. Thus, these “nonalcohol” beverages are not
regulated by Chapter 125; they are to be treated the
same as other noncarbonated waters and sodas, and may
be sold to anyone, regardless of age.
It may also just be a store policy. Here in Illinois we have a supermarket Dominicks (owned by Safeway) and if you’re in the company of a minor they won’t sell you alcohol.
I’m pretty sure it’s a state law in NH, but I’m too lazy to dig for a cite right now. Every store I knew of carded for it. However, I did once get carded for buying sparkling grape juice (or cider or something. Either way the label said 0.0% alcohol) in Market Basket. I gaped in disbelief until the clerk asked if I wanted a manager. He came over and said he couldn’t sell it to me. Fuck them. Idiots.
I could also be that the clerk didn’t need to, but was confused. I’ve been asked for I’d on root beer with a fancy label. The clerk saw beer and didn’t read farther.
You need to say where you are, when asking a question like this as laws vary.
I got carded for maple syrup once. It was in a glass bottle that looked a little like a flask of liquor, I suppose. Cashiers at my chain are trained from day one to be overly zealous in carding (even when there is no register prompt to do so) on any item which might arouse their suspicion. So, a Welch’s sparkling cider which looks like a bottle of champagne, or a flask of maple syrup, will often get you carded.
Right, but once they realize that there is 0.0% alcohol in it, and the store insists on not selling to minors because the bottle looks like a wine bottle, it’s my opinion that that store is run by a bunch of flaming retards.
Also in this category, but to a lesser extent, are places (like Walmart-- reason 1,432 to not shop there) that refuse to sell any products associated with fire to anyone under 18.
BUT, if there scanners have the item internally tagged as alcohol, they probably aren’t allowed to not card you. It’s not up to the cashiers to make judgment calls. And perhaps the manager can’t overrule something that could potentially get the store several thousand dollars in fines. If it’s a problem, write a letter to the owners/corporate explaining why you won’t shop there any more, then vote with your money. But it’s not the cashiers fault. If the register tells them the person has to be 21 (or 18 for fire) they have to follow their directions. If I were the cashier, as much as I might want to sell you that sparkling grape juice, I’m not gonna risk my job over it.
That may be. I’m not saying it’s the cashier’s fault. But whoever set the store policy should have thought about it. And if they did think about it, then they’re idiots.
Had that happen to me at a Jewel before too. Because my brother in law and I were trying to buy a case of beer and our 12 year old brother in law was with us at the time. The of age brother in law had a fit.
There’s no such thing as non-alcoholic food, strictly speaking. Many foods (bread, fruit, etc.) have trace amounts of naturally occuring alcohol in them. I believe some of them have as much as non-alcoholic beer. I can look it up after my 10:30 meeting.
I went to a local brewery for a tour and they give out free beer during the tour. They carded everyone no matter how old you looked. Guess they were just being careful, they do have a lot of 21 year olds show up.
Oh I agree. For some stores, though, we are frankly talking about a group of people who may not be able to read very well (or understand English), and are relying on what a product looks like. (Not sure the nice Romanian lady who mans the checkouts at my store in the morning will recognize that “Welch” is a grape juice brand, despite the foil-wrapped cork-stopped bottle, for instance.) This is a group of people who can be fired for not carding, but who won’t be fired for carding when unnecessary.
Now, when the cashier calls management over, and management refuses the sale of juice or syrup… that’s when I get mad. Not at the cashier, but at management.
Is it a register that works with bar codes? If the item was (even mistakenly) tagged as alcohol there’s going to be a policy that says they MUST get an ID. The manager may very well not be allowed to over ride that. It’s one thing if the manger incorrectly over rides a price and the store loses a dollar or two. It’s another thing if the manager incorrectly over rides the need for an ID and costs the store several thousand dollars and runs the risk of having their license pulled.
Your beef is with the person that programmed the registers or the person that told the managers that they need an ID for that item. Write a letter or call the store owner. Give them the chance to fix the problem and if they don’t, buy your groceries elsewhere.
I’m having trouble finding a cite for this, since a simple search of “alcohol in food” brings up a lot of information about adding booze to recipes and whether or not it cooks off. Anyone else have any info on naturally occuring alcohol?