Fermented Beverages: Wandering Around the Line between Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

The Fine Line between Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Photo by Shannon Milling on Unsplash

Introduction

In the prehistoric period, periods of harsh atmospheric conditions have forced humans to store food. (1) The exploitation of fermentation, as one of the earliest food preservation methods, has allowed humanity to preserve food and enhanced the flavour and nutritional value of its raw material.(2) Concerning fermented beverages, archaeological findings have indicated that humans have been consuming fermented beverages since the Neolithic period.(3) In most cultures, it is legal to consume fermented beverages.(4) Nonetheless, fermented beverages with alcohol content have been subject to regulation dating back to around 2000 BC.(5) The scientific cognisance of the term ‘alcoholic beverages’ commonly differs from the legal context. In modern-day jurisdictions, each country has its legal definition for alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beverages. Thus, the line that segregates both groups often varies. The contention often emerges when it crosses with certain fermented beverages in which alcoholic properties are not the leading purpose of its production. Wherefore, the question revolves around the issue of whether these kinds of fermented beverages should be legally recognised as ‘non-alcoholic beverages’ or a specialised genre of their own. While the prevailing regulations persist, the alcohol reduction technique is the preeminent approach for these fermented beverages to gravitate toward the category of ‘non-alcoholic beverages.’

Scientific Definition of Alcoholic Beverage and Non-Alcoholic Beverage

An alcoholic beverage is any beverage that contains alcohol. Alcohol is defined chemically as a multitude of molecules that are characterised by a hydroxyl group bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl group, including ethanol, methanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol. In relation to alcoholic beverages, however, alcohol is commonly referred to as ethanol (C2H5OH), also called ethyl alcohol.(6) In a simple depiction, an alcoholic beverage is any beverage that contains ethanol.(7) Alcoholic beverage comprises a broad extensive range of beverages that contain varying amounts of ethanol,(8) conventionally categorised into two generic classes: fermented alcoholic beverages and distilled alcoholic beverages.(9) The most prevalent practice to indicate the alcohol content in a beverage is by measuring the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV).(10) Alcohol by volume is ‘the number of litres of ethanol contained in 100 litres of wine, both volumes being measured at a temperature of 20°C’.(11) Therefore, a non-alcoholic beverage should be any beverage that does not contain any percentage of alcohol by volume.

Legal Definition of Alcoholic Beverage

In most countries, alcoholic beverage is subject to legislative control, notably in alcohol labelling and advertising.(12) The legal definition of alcoholic beverages differs in different countries (Table 1).(9, 13, 14, 15, 16) Each of these approaches in defining alcoholic beverages represents a peculiar perspective on policies that would regulate the alcoholic beverage industry more efficiently. Generally, there is a threshold for a beverage to be legally recognised as an alcoholic beverage. As a result, a beverage would not necessarily be deemed as an alcoholic beverage, albeit there is some alcohol content.

Table 1: Alcohol Labelling Requirement for Alcoholic Beverage

Legal Definition of Non-Alcoholic Beverage

In some countries, in order to be able to be labelled either as ‘non-alcoholic beverage’ or ‘alcoholic-free beverage,’ the alcohol content must fall within its legal definition (Table 2).(6, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19)

Table 2: Alcohol Labelling Requirement for Non-Alcoholic Beverage & Alcohol-Free Beverage

Alcoholic Fermentation with Ethanol as Byproduct

All alcoholic beverages fundamentally involve a metabolic process called alcoholic fermentation, by which microscopic yeasts or a few other microorganisms break food sugars down into ethanol and other metabolic byproducts.(6) Most production of alcoholic beverages commodiously uses yeast(20) which the species most concerned are members of the genus Saccharomyces.(21) These alcoholic beverages are called fermented alcoholic beverages. Thereupon, a variety of distillation techniques can convert fermented alcoholic beverages into alcoholic beverages with higher alcohol content, such as whiskey, gin, rum, brandy, and vodka.(22) These alcoholic beverages via distillation are called distilled alcoholic beverages.

Fermented Beverage: Alcoholic Beverage or Non-Alcoholic Beverage?

Fermentation need not invariably end up with high alcoholic content. There are fermented beverages in which alcohol consumption is hardly ever the purpose of its production, such as hardaliye, kefir, kombucha, and kvass (Table 3). Subject to the varying legal definition of ‘alcoholic beverage,’ these fermented beverages could be treated as alcoholic beverages and thereby obliged to comply with the alcoholic regulations (Table 1). Notwithstanding the alcoholic content falling below the legal threshold of alcoholic beverages, these fermented beverages would still need to conform with the regulations to be labelled and advertised legally as ‘non-alcoholic beverage’ or ‘alcoholic-free beverage’ (Table 2).(6, 11)

Table 3: Low-alcoholic Fermented Beverages

Alcohol Reduction Method: Lowering Alcoholic Levels in Fermented Beverage

Numerous alcohol reduction techniques have been adopted to control the alcohol concentration in fermented beverages. These techniques could be grouped as limited fermentation methods and de-alcoholisation methods.(6) Limited fermentation methods are essentially the manipulation of the factors that could affect the creation of alcoholic content and thus alcohol concentration during fermentation, whereas de-alcoholisation methods are the removal of alcoholic content that has been produced in fermented beverages. Methods are applied at different stages of the production of fermented beverages, namely the animal husbandry or crop cultivation stage, pre-fermentation stage, fermentation stage, and post-fermentation stage.(23)

Husbandry and Cultivation Stage

Fermented beverages can be produced from an extensive variety of substrates, such as milk, grain, fruits, honey, and vegetables.(11) The sugar content in the substrate determines the alcohol concentration of the fermented beverage. In wine production, the glucose and fructose content of grapes would differ significantly depending on the choice of the vineyard site, soil composition, irrigation strategy, rootstocks, grape varieties, grape yield and leaf area management.(24) In kefir production, the lactose content in the milk substrate would also differ depending on the species and breeds, animals’ feed, and the climate.(21) Therefore, during the animal husbandry or crop cultivation stage, limited fermentation methods are often applied to limit excessive alcohol content by controlling the factors that affect the sugar content in the substrate.

Pre-fermentation Stage

Limited fermentation methods in the pre-fermentation stage focus on using techniques to manipulate the prerequisites of the production of fermented beverages. In wine production, membrane filtration techniques such as ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, have been introduced to alter the sugar content and composition of the must.(25) In kombucha production, the alteration of sugar content in sweetened tea substrate could affect alcohol production.(26) Apart from the conventional way of reducing added sugar in the substrate, a high concentration of sugar content in the substrate will also reduce the alcohol production rate in consequence of metabolic competition between fermentation and aerobic metabolism of glucose.(27) Moreover, the profile of yeasts and bacteria will also affect alcohol production, particularly the quantity and type of yeast strains. The number of yeast strains could be reduced through microfiltration techniques, low heat application, and non-heat distillation.(28) Additionally, the inclusion of a specific type of yeast strain such as Torulaspora delbrueckii will affect alcohol production as it produces alcohol comparatively slower than other yeast strains.(28)

Fermentation Stage

Limited fermentation methods in the fermentation stage emphasise manipulation of the factors influencing the fermentation process. In wine and beer production, limited fermentation methods include pasteurisation and rapid cooling to slow down a normal fermentation.(6) In kombucha production, the temperature control during the manufacturing process and the yeast’s exposure to oxygen can affect alcohol production.(28) Additionally, oftentimes the kombucha production involves a secondary fermentation after bottling, alcohol concentration can be subsequently increased due to additional sugar, lengthy shelf life, unfiltered or unpasteurised process, and temperature abuse.(28) Firstly, sugar is often added during the secondary fermentation to attain carbonation, thus artificial carbonation could be used instead. Furthermore, the number of yeast strains could be reduced through microfiltration techniques, pasteurisation, low heat application, and non-heat distillation.(28) Lastly, it is vital to maintain a consistently low temperature throughout the distribution chain.

Post-fermentation Stage

De-alcoholization methods are usually involved during the post-fermentation stage. In wine and beer production, the conventional alcohol removal technologies are essentially distillation and membrane-based technologies.(29) Distillation techniques include atmospheric pressure distillation(30), vacuum distillation, and film distillation, whereas membrane filtration techniques include reverse osmosis and dialysis.(31) In the United Kingdom, only beverage that contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) can be labelled de-alcoholised beverage.(17)

Conclusion

Most countries have legislative control specified on wine, beer, and distilled beverages. In contrast with the inclination of consumer preferences towards non-alcoholic beverages due to the burgeoning concern for health, there is inadequate consideration given on fermented beverages such as hardaliye, kefir, kombucha, and kvass while developing alcoholic regulations. These fermented beverages are often not being treated independently with specific regulations in most legislative jurisdictions. Even though numerous alcohol reduction techniques are available to the producers, these techniques are often capital-intensive, research-intensive or highly technical. It would be more beneficial to the industry and the consumers where such fermented beverages are regulated independently.

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