background research: Corfe et al, 2020

The research draws on a consumer survey and interviews with stakeholders in the industry and in the public health space.

Impacts of NoLo drinks on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms

  • survey found that of current and past drinkers of NoLo beverages, 50% reported that current alcohol consumption was unchanged as a result of consuming these drinks

    • and those that reported a change commonly found reduced levels of alcohol consumption (33% completely stopped drinking) rather than increased levels

    • where as only 6% increased

  • 32% consuming NoLo drinks do so on top of, not instead of, existing levels of alcoholic consumption

    • this is more prominent with heavy drinkers

    • 39% disagreed with this though

Consumption of NoLo

  • 21% of individuals consumed an alcohol-free drink the past 12 months

    • 21% more have consumed them but more than 12 months ago

Demographics of NoLo groups

Females are less likely than males to have consumed a NoLo drink.

• Those aged 18-34 are more likely to have consumed a NoLo drink, than those aged 35-54 and 55 and above.

• Those in the higher income socioeconomic groups are more likely to have consumed a NoLo drink.

• Those with children under 18 in the household are more likely to have consumed a NoLo drink.

• Drinkers are more likely than non-drinkers to have consumed an alcohol-free drink. 11% of non-drinkers reported having an alcohol-free drink in the past 12 months.

the ‘Alcohol harm Paradox’

  • refers to the fact that although higher income individuals drink more on average, alcohol harms are concentrated in lower income groups.30

  • Alcohol-specific death rates among men in the most deprived quintile of the population are 4.3 times higher than for men in the least deprived quintile.

  • For women, age-standardised death rates are 3.4 times higher.

  • Given the Alcohol Harm Paradox, the lower use of NoLo drinks by those in lower income socioeconomic groups might limit the potential for these drinks to reduce alcohol-related harms.

  • Among those that have never consumed NoLo drinks, the most commonly cited reasons were that individuals would prefer to drink a soft drink if not drinking alcohol (39%) and that individuals would rather consume a conventional alcoholic drink (35%).

Alcohol-related harms, consumption is associated with:

  • increased risk of 200 conditions like

    • cancer

    • heart disease

    • stroke

    • diabetes

    • liver disease

    • mental & behavioural disorders

but the impacts of NoLo drinks on health outcomes are more complicated:

  • the idea is to reduce alcoholic consumption/ harms but there is limited evidence for this

  • health experts are concerned about the lack of clarity around the safety of low-strength drinks for those with liver conditions and for pregnant individuals

  • concerns of a ‘gateway product’ to attract a young generation that in recent years have consumed less alcohol than older generations when they were the same age

  • the future health risk of ‘alibi marketing’ as companies could use advertisements of NoLo products to market the “conventional” alcoholic version of the brand as the marketing between many alcoholic drinks and their alternatives are similar

potential positives

  • NoLo drinks removing the taboo of not drinking to make it easier to cut back while not “standing out”

  • Reduces rates of drink driving as drivers opt for NoLo products over stronger products

Potential neutral health impacts

  • alcohol-free products largely eating into soft drinks market rather than the market for alcoholic drinks

  • alcohol-free products being consumed as an addition to stronger drinks- leaving overall levels of alcohol consumption (largely) unchanged

Potential negative health impacts

  • NoLo drinks normalising drinking culture

    • including in scenarios where drinking is regarded as taboo aka the workplace, morning and coffee shop

  • NoLo drinks causing those with alcohol dependency to relapse by encouraging a return to detrimental routines

    • 66% of respondents to a survey believed Lo-Alc drinks contained no more than 0.5%

  • issues related to the sugar/ calorie content of NoLo drinks

  • consumptions by those for whom they are not safe

    • 7% of women that consumed A NoLo drink in the last 12 months said that they did so because they were pregnant or supporting a pregnant partner.

    • given the risks of alcohol to foetal development, pregnant women must know the associated risks

Research gaps!

  • future research is needed as data to direct and aid policy makers on consumer behaviour and thus, health outcomes

Evidence gaps of note:

• An assessment of how changing UK NoLo descriptors would impact consumer behaviour and, in turn, health outcomes.

• An examination of the extent to which government measures to encourage NoLo drinks consumption are effective and generate health benefits.

• The extent to which NoLo products in the UK might contain more alcohol than stated on the label. We identified a study which identified this as a significant issue in Canada, but are unaware of similar evidence for the UK. Given the potential health risks from mislabelling of products, understanding the scale of this issue in the UK is important.