[Matjjalal X File] Can Pregnant Women Drink 'Zero Beer'?…Non-Alcoholic VS Alcohol-Free

Non-alcoholic beer contains no trace amounts of alcohol
Only Hite Zero and Cloud Clear Zero qualify
Non-alcohol beer contains less than 1% alcohol

"I am 28 weeks pregnant. Is 'Zero Beer' okay? Having a beer after work was a small happiness for me. I'm curious if it's alright to try zero beer as a substitute."

A pregnant woman posted a photo of 'Hite Zero' along with this message on a Naver cafe, asking for opinions. The responses were divided. One netizen replied, "I also drank it occasionally during pregnancy. One or two sips were fine. Just don't drink it often." On the other hand, another netizen said, "Zero beer still contains trace amounts of alcohol, so it's not completely safe. I recommend barley tea instead."

So, what is the correct answer? None of these comments were accurate. Hite Zero is a non-alcoholic beer that does not contain even the smallest amount of alcohol. For pregnant women worried about alcohol, this means it can be consumed anytime. But why did the comments continue to be incorrect? It's because people confuse non-alcoholic with low-alcohol or alcohol-free terms.

Even if the name includes "Zero," non-alcoholic beer contains no alcohol at all, whereas low-alcohol (or alcohol-free) beer contains less than 1% alcohol. According to Korean liquor tax law, beverages with less than 1% alcohol are classified as drinks, and those with 1% or more as alcoholic beverages, so neither are considered alcohol in the legal sense. However, for consumers such as pregnant women or those with liver disease who are sensitive to even small amounts of alcohol, it is better to avoid low-alcohol beer as well.

The manufacturing processes of non-alcoholic beer and low-alcohol beer are different. Non-alcoholic beer is made more like a carbonated beverage than beer. It is produced without the fermentation process used in brewing alcohol; malt extract is combined with hops and flavorings. In other words, it is a beverage that tastes similar to beer.

On the other hand, low-alcohol beer undergoes the same fermentation and maturation process as regular beer, but alcohol is removed in the final stage. Since it is difficult to completely remove alcohol, trace amounts remain after production.

If you look closely at beer packaging, the alcohol content labeling differs depending on whether it is non-alcoholic or low-alcohol beer. Non-alcoholic beer is labeled as 0.00%, while low-alcohol beer is labeled as 0.0%.

So, which products on the market are non-alcoholic beer and which are low-alcohol beer? The product dominating the non-alcoholic market is Hite Jinro's Hite Zero, mentioned above. By the way, Hite Zero promotes that through renewal, it has achieved zero alcohol, sugar, sodium, and calories. However, note that the calories are not zero. In fact, a 350mL can contains 13.8 kcal. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's food labeling standards, a product can be labeled zero if it contains less than 4 kcal per 100 mL.

Another non-alcoholic beer is Lotte Chilsung's Cloud Clear Zero. Lotte Chilsung introduces it as "Cloud Clear Zero is made using a non-fermentation manufacturing method, containing absolutely no alcohol, making it a true 0.00% non-alcoholic beer." The calorie content of Clear Zero is 30 kcal per 350 mL.

These are the only two non-alcoholic beers easily available to us. Almost all others are low-alcohol beers, meaning beverages containing trace amounts of alcohol. Representative low-alcohol beers include OB Beer’s Cass Zero and Cass Zero Lemon Squeeze, Tsingtao Non-Alcoholic, Heineken Non-Alcoholic, Budweiser Zero, and Hoegaarden Zero.

For most people, there is little difference between non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers. However, for consumers who must avoid alcohol completely, remember the distinction introduced by Matjalal (taste expert). It is not easy to tell whether a product is non-alcoholic or low-alcohol just by the name. In fact, it was not difficult to find cases in online markets where sellers mistakenly labeled low-alcohol beer as non-alcoholic.