One interesting piece of information is that non-alcoholic beer can legally have up to 0.5% ethyl alcohol.
Where does the alcohol in “non-alcoholic” beer come from?
Non-alcoholic beer is made in the same way regular beer is, but the alcohol is removed afterward. So de-alcoholized beer is a more precise term. The fact remains that it is impossible to evaporate all of the alcohol content, and about 0.5% remains. In many countries, this amount of ethanol makes it possible for the manufacturer to label the beverage as non-alcoholic [1]. Nevertheless, they are obligated to indicate the alcohol content on the packaging; you will usually find it in small print.
What if the container says "0% alcohol"?
Perhaps the manufacturer was able to create a completely alcohol-free beer. Or maybe there is a level of dishonesty in their statement. In Canada, for example, several beers labeled as having zero or low alcohol were tested and it turns out that in a third of the samples, there was more ethanol than stated by the brand [2].
So can you drink non-alcoholic beer or not?
There is no safe dose of alcohol for pregnant women [3]. Leading medical organizations worldwide agree that pregnant women should not drink alcohol at all. So it's better to avoid even non-alcoholic beer.
