# Legal question about homeopathic alcohol **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029 "2013-10-23T14:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/41 "2013-10-23T19:45:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Invisible Jackalope_ would be the brand name of the product, the product would be homeopathic whiskey. I am not a lawyer, but the way I read the regs, you would not be able to call it that on the label. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/42 "2013-10-23T19:52:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I am not a lawyer, but the way I read the regs, you would not be able to call it that on the label. The terms “whiskey” and “bourbon” are regulated. It’s the same with words like “cheese” and “ice cream”. If you don’t meet very specific criteria those words better not appear on your packaging. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/43 "2013-10-23T19:52:55Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I am not a lawyer, but the way I read the regs, you would not be able to call it that on the label. Unless I can convince The Powers That Be that “homeopathic whiskey” is an entirely different product from “whiskey”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/44 "2013-10-23T20:45:28Z")
No no. “Homeopathic wiskey”! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/45 "2013-10-23T20:58:08Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > No no. “Homeopathic wiskey”! I guess I could go that route. How’s _Invisible Jackalope_ for a brand name, with a picture of the same on the label and the inscription “_Centum Cento Anguis Oleum_” right below the portrait? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/46 "2013-10-23T21:08:54Z")
> [@Charredcasm](#): > > So, alcohol law-wise I’m pretty much in the clear. > Is there any sort of training or certification needed to call a product “homeopathic”? Well, I see you can spell it… that’s probably the only major hurdle. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/47 "2013-10-24T03:33:11Z")
How about “subbourbon”? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/48 "2013-10-24T03:38:34Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > How about “subbourbon”? Subboubon Wiskey Wry Wiskey Djinn Wodka Tikeela ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/49 "2013-10-24T12:21:16Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > How about “subbourbon”? That’s very good! I like it, and it has a certain middle class appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/50 "2013-10-24T17:34:40Z")
Call it “Hair of the Dog Homeopathic Hangover Treatment”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/51 "2013-10-24T17:58:24Z")
Buze ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/52 "2013-10-25T01:25:18Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > You’d probably want to examine laws regarding alcohol content, but my first guess is that a beverage that is less than 1/100[sup]200[/sup]th alcohol will be exempt… I believe most jurisdictions of the US other than Utah permit children to purchase and drink Nonalcoholic Beer, but NA Beer is not truly alcohol free - it just has so little alcohol that you’d have to theoretically drink a dozen cases just to get a little tipsy and it would take you so long to drink that much that much of the alcohol would have been processed through your body anyway by the time you finish, so it isn’t meaningfully possible to get drunk off it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/53 "2013-10-25T01:50:00Z")
Hell, you’d probably die of water intoxication first if you were trying to get drunk off NA beer. By the way, I totally approve of this idea of a homeopathic alcohol as a cure for a hangover. I sometimes say, only somewhat jokingly, that my company should get out of the actual pharmaceuticals game and into homeopathy instead. But instead of whiskey, I suggest vodka. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/54 "2013-10-25T21:10:26Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I believe most jurisdictions of the US other than Utah permit children to purchase and drink Nonalcoholic Beer, but NA Beer is not truly alcohol free - it just has so little alcohol that you’d have to theoretically drink a dozen cases just to get a little tipsy and it would take you so long to drink that much that much of the alcohol would have been processed through your body anyway by the time you finish, so it isn’t meaningfully possible to get drunk off it. If [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-alcohol_beer) is to be believed, it’s only as low as 0.5% ABV in the U.S., which is not nearly as low as you’d think. (In the UK, for example, it’s a literal order of magnitude less.) I don’t know how dilution would affect it, but it would only take 10 U.S. alcohol-free beers to have the same amount as a regular beer. And I have heard of kids who drink a whole 12-pack and get a little buzzed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/55 "2013-10-25T21:17:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-alcohol_beer) is to be believed, it’s only as low as 0.5% ABV in the U.S., which is not nearly as low as you’d think. (In the UK, for example, it’s a literal order of magnitude less.) > > I don’t know how dilution would affect it, but it would only take 10 U.S. alcohol-free beers to have the same amount as a regular beer. And I have heard of kids who drink a whole 12-pack and get a little buzzed. With a 200c solution, you would be lucky to find an alcohol molecule in an entire truckload. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/56 "2013-10-26T00:13:47Z")
> [@Charredcasm](#): > > With a 200c solution, you would be lucky to find an alcohol molecule in an entire truckload. Here’s your problem. You need to dilute your alcohol with alcohol. Only the “active” ingredient retains the intended memory, so you’re safe. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029/57 "2013-10-26T00:26:54Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > A little looking shows that Homeopathic preparations are [covered by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1938)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Food,_Drug,_and_Cosmetic_Act#Homeopathic_medications) IF it is listed in the _Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States_. I doubt whiskey dilutions are in there so it would probably be covered other FDA regulations. Thanks to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (which would have been better titled the Totally Deregulating the Health Supplement Industry Act) you can sell pretty much whatever you want without FDA approval as long as the component ingredients have been cleared as “reasonably expected to be safe” (and even that requirement is waived for any ingredient available commercially prior to 1994). More or less the only requirement is that your manufacturing facilities meet FDA safety requirements (ie., your product has less than the maximum safe volume of rat droppings in it) and you indicate that the efficacy of the product has not been evaluated by the FDA. You may have seen the appropriate disclaimer at the bottom of penis enlargement commercials. ETA: You would also have to comply with appropriate state and local alcohol regulation, as discussed above. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-homeopathic-alcohol/672029.md?page=2)