ID checked when buying alcohol free wine

[ScotHill]

Bought a bottle of Nozeco and the self service till came up with the age check thing. The product is billed as alcohol free, not low alcohol, and there is no ABV on it anywhere so I'm assuming it provably has zero alcohol in it, as opposed to other wines which are sold as 0.25% ABV or whatever.

So why the check? Do the supermarkets set it up by product, in which case it seems needless in this case; or is it done by product range, either because the supermarket wants to do it that way, or because there's something in the law about alcohol-related products being subject to the same checks, so little kids don't swan around the park pretending to have champagne parties like their mummies.

Or could it actually have traces of alcohol in it and they're covering their backs?

[the-norseman]

All the "alcohol free" drinks are the same, I bought some Guinness Zero recently think thats 0.5% in reality.

[buymeabar]

From a tech perspective, having worked for a UK supermarket: I was surprised to fine that all alcohol and non-alcohol items are bundled into the BWS (beers, wines spirits) category and therefore we couldn't be bothered to separate out the truly 0% alcohol items from all the ERP feeds.

Hence we found it easier to just challenge every BWS item.

NB: I no longer work there, so I can agree it's crazy!

[QuattroDave]

Best ID for bananas then as they've about the same amount of alcohol as these <0.5% drinks!

[ScotHill]

I’m tempted to send my 6 year old son in to buy a bottle and see what happens! #dailymailcompoface

[Paul_M3]

They obviously just categorise things together to save too much time thinking about it.

Or at least I assume that’s the case, as the Asda delivery driver had to ask me for ID for this…



Despite being a fully plastic spoon, I assume it got lumped in the same category as knives etc.

[Fatboy]

https://youtu.be/OXltf7oUOBI?si=OIDlNUDZlgGi2XNX

[Kenny68]

I used to work for Tesco on the self service tills. When they first started ID checks for energy drinks they lumped in Lucozade with all the caffeine based drinks.

It was fixed after a week or so, but we used to just authorise it for everyone because we knew it was a mistake.

[TikTak]

Aside from the fact it's probably classified in the database as a wine, are we really surprised?

It has alcohol in it .. and as they ID you for things like over the counter drugs like Calpol and items like Red Bull it's really not surprising.

[paradigital]

TikTak said:

It has alcohol in it

First of all, it doesn't.

Secondly, some mouthwashes do, but they aren't ID checked...

[ScotHill]

paradigital said:

Secondly, some mouthwashes do, but they aren't ID checked...

I'm sure I read somewhere that Angostura Bitters are exempt from licensing laws even though they're c.28%, because they're so fking disgusting on their own that no-one would ever manage to get drunk on them!

[arfur]

ScotHill said:

paradigital said:

Secondly, some mouthwashes do, but they aren't ID checked...

I'm sure I read somewhere that Angostura Bitters are exempt from licensing laws even though they're c.28%, because they're so fking disgusting on their own that no-one would ever manage to get drunk on them!

Bloody lovely in a rum punch though :-)

[Pica-Pica]

ScotHill said:

paradigital said:

Secondly, some mouthwashes do, but they aren't ID checked...

I'm sure I read somewhere that Angostura Bitters are exempt from licensing laws even though they're c.28%, because they're so fking disgusting on their own that no-one would ever manage to get drunk on them!

I think that came about during the prohibition in the USA, and may still be so. They are 45% alcohol by volume.
They’re lovely on their own for an acid stomach (which is what they are for, a digestif). Try drinking Underbergs, even more effective.

[Pieman68]

arfur said:

Bloody lovely in a rum punch though :-)

Or the ever popular Long Vodka that we used to serve in the club where I worked

(For those that don't know, coat the glass in bitters then add vodka, lime and lemonade)

[QBee]

Strangely I have never been checked for buying M&S Cherry Liqueur chocolates
They are £3 a box of 20, if you fancy testing them for alcohol.
Or you could trust me and know they have plenty, and are bloody lovely if you like dark chocolate, cherries and cherry liqueur.

[Short Grain]

Re Underburg, we used to play some kind of German drinking game years ago whereby if you lost you had to drink one of the little bottles by picking it up by the neck in your mouth and empty it in one, in between copious amounts of lager! There were usually some rough heads the next morning but quite settled stomachs

[NFT]

QBee said:

Strangely I have never been checked for buying M&S Cherry Liqueur chocolates
They are £3 a box of 20, if you fancy testing them for alcohol.
Or you could trust me and know they have plenty, and are bloody lovely if you like dark chocolate, cherries and cherry liqueur.

Sold!, think I'll go to S&M (as I know it) tomorrow and pick some up.

[OutInTheShed]

QBee said:

Strangely I have never been checked for buying M&S Cherry Liqueur chocolates
They are £3 a box of 20, if you fancy testing them for alcohol.
Or you could trust me and know they have plenty, and are bloody lovely if you like dark chocolate, cherries and cherry liqueur.

Just being in the shop proves you are over 50.

[carinaman]

the-norseman said:

All the "alcohol free" drinks are the same, I bought some Guinness Zero recently think thats 0.5% in reality.

I think Guinness 0 says 'max alcohol 0.05%'. I bought 10 cans for £10 from Tesco last week.

[Still Mulling]

So far as I’ve been led to understand: alcohol free is <0.05%; low alcohol is <0.5%.

The laws to ID it are baloney, and it needs to change IMO. I suspect that it is less to do with law, and more to do with lazy feckers in the ERP master data teams. But that is not based in fact, I hasten to caveat.