Is Fentiman's soda a gateway beverage? Photo: cackhanded/flickr
The Bangor Daily News reports officials from the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse are investigating because the naturally fermented beverage contains less than 0.5 percent alcohol. The incident has other officials proposing the lemonade -- brewed since 1905 -- be reclassified as "imitation liquor," which can't be sold or consumed by minors -- a move that Fentiman's officials are fighting.
The company acknowledges that some alcohol is left in the beverage.
"We remove some components of the product during that process and also add flavoring," Greg Warwick, the president of Fentimans North America, told the paper. "What we end up with is a product that is a mixture of less than 1/2 percent alcohol because of the fermentation process. The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has deemed this safe for all ages. There should be no restrictions on the distribution or sale of the product."
The school's principal said the student turned in the half-consumed bottle of lemonade after he read there could be alcohol in the soda.
"There was no intent on the student's part to break any school rules or laws," Principal Martin Bouchard said. "This was just a harmless incident."
Should children be banned from drinking naturally fermented soda pop? Let us know in the comments.
[Via Bangor Daily News]
10-22-2009 @5:59PM crrieger said... It's a fairly common science activity to make root beer in school using flavor extract, sugar, and yeast. While the fermentation is intended to produce carbonation, it will also produce a very small amount of alcohol before the beverage is consumed. I've seen this activity published for elementary students.
Whatever came of the German schools that were talking with a brewery to produce a non-alcoholic beer for lunches because the schools wanted an alternative to sugary drinks?
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10-22-2009 @7:13PM malenka said... Is it healthier for kids to consume soft drinks that are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup? One might argue that the overall detriments to our childrens' health from super-sweetened HFCS soda pops are worse than the effect of 0.5% (or less) alcohol in a natural brewed beverage...
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10-22-2009 @7:26PM Gobo said... No, a tiny amount of alcohol will not affect a child in any way at all. It should not be banned. Fentiman's is in the right, here.
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10-22-2009 @8:38PM Derek said... We should ban it, and while we are at it that kid should be suspended... clearly he is a danger to society.
Fentimans should be ashamed of themselves how dare they defend their dangerous product!
/sarcasm
Why is this news? When did society shove such are large stick up it's ass?
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10-26-2009 @11:57PM NoVANicole said... I thought we were through with the wacko "zero-tolerance" rules? I can't think of a better way to make something more attractive to children than to ban it based on the fear of a non-existant problem.
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10-23-2009 @10:53PM Emily said... In tenth grade we did the previously mentioned experiment of making our own rootbeer, and our teacher said that it would take at least a barrel's worth to get enough alcohol to do anything
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10-23-2009 @12:38AM Nick S said... Of course children shouldn't be allowed to drink lemonade! They should only be allowed into school after a complete strip and cavity search, and certainly shouldn't be allowed near anything that might potentially pose a hazard to the mental stability of uptight pansies everywhere.
In all seriousness, it's pretty ridiculous. Many apple ciders contain a tiny percentage of alcohol - ought we ban them too? Let's ban pencils - they're easily 0.5% as dangerous as a knife.
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10-23-2009 @12:51AM verdegrrl said... We didn't buy pop - we brewed it. No choice. Served as a treat every few days at most, it wasn't going to do any harm best I can tell. Certainly never created a buzz.
You can go to any health food store and buy drinks that are intended to improve health and have residual alcohol, but are short on ingredients to make things a party.
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10-23-2009 @1:20AM Bernie B said... Mouthwash has a higher alcohol content than this, maybe they should ban Scope as well.
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10-23-2009 @2:28AM Megan said... "“The student saw the label as he was drinking it and realized that there was some alcohol in it,” he explained. “The student did not want to get in trouble and brought it to a teacher. Less than half of the bottle was gone."
So this kid is in high school & he turned it in ? Why not just throw it out and not cause a fuss, if he didn't think it was appropriate ? Sounds like the type of kid who reminds the teacher she hasn't assigned homework yet.
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10-23-2009 @8:26AM Dean said... Megan,
You may be right, or the kid was just nervous because these days you never know what's going to happen. Look at the incident of the 6 y.o. in Florida who was nearly sent to reform school for 45 days for bringing a Spork to school. It was something he got in his Cub Scout meeting. Fortunately, the local School Board wised up when the publicity hit.
My guess is that the kid was drinking the lemonade, someone made a comment and he figured he'd get ahead of things by turning himself in. I agree with the other posters here who think the world has gone nuts when they try to ban things like this.
As a parent, I'm all for schools being a bit extra cautious in the steps they take to protect kids, but too often they go way overboard.
The good news here is that the people in Maine seem to be handling this just fine.
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10-23-2009 @11:44AM Jake said... This is insane. Purely insane. If Fentiman's goes to any lengths at all to prove how inocuous their beverages are, I will be shocked. If any legal entity becomes involved in this insanity, then they are as irrational as those already involved.
This issue is difficult to address because it is incomprehensibly irrational. (But I already said that). Are they insane? Is vanilla extract, and other extracts, next?
Historically, families had home-brewed beer at the table. It beat starvation.
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10-23-2009 @4:51PM Melissa said... Regular orange juice has that much naturally occurring alcohol as well. A ban would be silly.
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10-24-2009 @2:29PM Angiebaby said... Should children be banned from drinking naturally fermented soda pop? No. Nothing should be done, and these substance abuse Nazi's should move on to a new target.
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10-24-2009 @2:27PM originlcin said... Oh please! When I was in high school, kids brought vodka in water bottles, cocktails in Thermoses. I bet there are kids at this school with guns, but lemonade is easier to go after.
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10-24-2009 @2:33PM capability said... we were allowed to drink beer, wine or whatever while I was in school...grammer school, too. Smoke, too. In central Europe during the time I was growing p there were no restrictions on theese things. I am now a well educated, productive adult. Kids by in large aren't turing out so well today.
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10-24-2009 @2:41PM Michael said... Ilaoshi04, you have bumped your head. I am so tired of your ad and bogus claims. Stop it.
mr. mp
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10-24-2009 @2:44PM Paul said... We have become a nation of paranoid p*ssies - let's just ban everything
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10-24-2009 @2:46PM CINDY said... Oh my God!! Are some of you for real? This product has about as much danger to kids as a lollipop! 0.5 percent alcohol? THAT IS NOTHING!! I think some of you should just keep your children under lock and key, and be done with it!! Your kids could probably drink this stuff all day, with no visible signs of change in behavior!! And what kid would WANT to drink it all day?? Some of you are totally making a mountain out of a molehill!! I think there might be more IMPORTANT ISSUES to worry about!! Do your best to clear the cobwebs out of your head, and think of some!!
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10-24-2009 @3:02PM William Bischoff said... I can't believe that some people want to justify leaving this product available to children, by saying they "drink sugary drinks". They won't stop drinking sugary soft drinks, so we should just let them drink anything else that is not good for them, as well.
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