Defining No and Low (NoLo) Alcohol Products

Reducing the alcoholic strength in beverages as a strategy to reduce harmful alcohol use has been proposed by multilateral institutions such as the World Health Organization and governments worldwide. Different industrial and artisanal techniques are used to achieve low-alcohol content beverages. Therefore, regulations regarding the content of alcohol in beverages and strategies to monitor compliance are important, because they are the main reason for classification of the beverages and are central to their categorization and market labelling. Furthermore, analytical techniques with adequate sensitivity as low as 0.04% vol are necessary to determine the alcohol ranges necessary for classification. In this narrative review, the definitions of no and low (NoLo) alcohol products are described and the differences in the legal definitions of these products in several regions of the world are highlighted. Currently, there is clearly confusion regarding the terminology of no, free, zero, low, light, or reduced alcohol products. There is an urgent need for global harmonization (e.g., at the Codex Alimentarius level) of the definitions from a commercial perspective and also to have common nomenclature for science and for consumer information.

Automated summary

Reducing the alcoholic strength in beverages is a strategy to reduce harmful alcohol use, and it requires regulations and compliance monitoring. There is currently confusion regarding the definitions of no and low alcohol products, highlighting the need for global harmonization.