I understand that alcoholic beverages are regulated by the ATF and not the FDA, which is why nutrition fact labels aren’t legally required on alcoholic beverages, but why does this carry over to NA beer?
It’s basically just beer-flavored soda. It has less than the required alcohol content (<0.5%) to be legally classified as an alcoholic beverage. Is it not regulated by the FDA?
The only clue I have is that Nutrition Fact labels appear on cans of NA beer made by companies that only produce NA beer (e.g. Athletic / Partake), but not NA beers produced by existing full-alcohol breweries (e.g. Heineken / Guinness). Is there some sort of “we also produce alcoholic beverages” loophole to avoid FDA regulation?
If so, would it be possible for Coca-Cola, who distributes alcoholic beverages (e.g. Topo Chico hard seltzer / Jack & Coke premixed cocktails), to get around the requirement for their regular sodas?
NA beer is not basically “beer flavored soda.” The only thing the two have in common is carbonation and even that is produced differently in each. Soda is flavored syrup mixed with water that has been carbonated by forcing CO2 through it. NA beer is brewed the same as regular beer, and carbonation occurs during this process. For some NA beers, fermentation is arrested before significant amounts of alcohol form, while others are subjected to a vacuum to lower the boiling point so that the alcohol can be boiled out with a minimum effect of the flavor.
I think you are taking the beer flavored soda comment too literally.
Both are beverages people drink for fun and have calories, which is the comparison said in a lighthearted manner.