AG rules UK drink not fit for minors

This is so ridiculous....

STOP THE PRESSES, THIS IS BIG NEWS!

Fanatics at work again!!!!!! Absolutely rediculous.

taking this to the extreme all nonpasturized fruit drinks cannot be sold to minors as natural fermentation may occur.

Finally, a break from the YES/NO on one "debate"!

This isn't ridiculous. A minor isn't supposed to have ANY alcohol in their system if they are stopped while driving. Just because lemons are fruits isn't any reason to think it's safe. All liquors , wines , and beer have either grains, fruits or plants that have been fermented.

Fruit drinks and juices are supposed to be pasteurized ,exlex94. It 's done to kill bacteria

Kids, stay off the booze. Cannabis is a healthier alternative.

I understand the company is having a hissy fit. They think we are too "puritan". Thankfully Maine is committed to keeping things above board and knows when to draw the line.

So I guess that means that they can no longer sell apple cider to anyone under 18 now also.

yeah, Rozeann, they know when to draw the line----but it's usually right under our throats.

a$$wipes! all of them!

You couldn't possibly drink enough in a short period of time in order for this to affect you. Some people are so bent on controlling everything

Anything to excess is bad for you. Kitty Dukakis was 'harmed' by cough syrup. But then again, she had to find something, she was married to a democrat.

Narurally fermented? Fermentation is fermentation, whether done in a brewery or winery or not. Sounds like it's intentional rahter than conicidental.

Well eastmainer you would have to agree with mAineAc that natural unpasteurized apple cider must now be banned as it could naturally ferment. ISo not all fruit based drinks are pasteurized which you are correct does kill bacteria.

There are far more things to worry about than people under 21 drinking a lemonade that has less than 0.5% alcohol in it. According to company, someone would have to drink 28 bottles of this lemonade to reach the same alcohol level in a PINT of beer! 28! It's impossible to do.. you would either puke of die of hyperglycemia long before you could even get the alcohol equivalent of ONE BEER!

Kids are huffing glue and aerosols, have access to any illegal drugs their sticky little fingers could ever want, can legally fill their lungs with chemicals and carcinogens at 18... and the list goes on.. and we're worried about a beverage the FDA approved for general consumption?

Still another victory for the controllers. So now we have...... no Victorian Lemonade, turns the kids into winos. Don't smoke a perfectly legal cigarette in YOUR car with junior in the back seat, gives them black lung. No sugary snacks in school... makes them all obese. Make sure junior only sees PG movies, or he will grow up to be a sex fiend. I am 53 years old and grew up in the 60's. Seat belts, smoking, sugary snacks and so on were all part of my growing up. My father smoked in the car all the time, I ate twinkies, (egad) and even, perish the thought, had a beer now and then when I was only 17. Oh no!!!!! Movies were not rated back then, of course, they didn't need to be. No one would even think of making todays movies back in those days. It seems to me that what was regulated by common sense and morality back then, needs to be regulated today. Can this mean that society today has less of these two fundamental requirements? Namely common sense and morality? You had better know it!!!! Most certainly!!!!! I don't agree with all the controls and regulations being penned today. It seems we are always looking for some way to make life safer or to curb some imagined problem. As we inject more and more government control into our everyday lives with all this nit picking legislation, we are slowly giving away the very thing that made America THE place to live. Freedom. And that means freedom to sometimes do things that are not 100% good for you or that are not pure and healthy and wholesome. This is life in a free state. The freedom of choice. Seems like our choices are either dwindling or being made for us more and more. Just my two cents.. M-A

Want to save on taxes get rid of this dept. along with all the other idiots in this State. Oh they can stay and close the light when their the last ones to leave the state......

How is all that "Change you can believe in" working out for ya'll ?

Substance abuse? Are you serious?

"Yeah man, I'm soooo wasted on this Victorian lemonade....OMG guys, .5% LIQUOR...WOOOOO! Let's go get even more wasted!"

I'm sure it'll turn children everywhere into raging alcoholics before graduating high school.

you' d better keep slush puppies away from kids too! some of the flavor bases "may contain up to 2% ethanol"

So I guess cider will be next..........

Do people in Maine just sit around and decide what to ban next?

Also, every bottled beverage looks the same. Cans of soda are identical to cans of beer. Glass bottles of soda/lemonade/tea look similar (if not exact) to bottles of beer or liquor. That is an EXTREMELY poor reason/excuse in this case

more nanny law's.hey my kids use mouth wash when are they going to make that illegal.

the tylenol i gave my son the other night has alcohol should i stop giving him that .

augusta is full of idiots.and every election we get more idiots and the one's that get re-elected become bigger idiots.

its a vicious circle.

maine can make money on fines the idiots keep sticking it to the people

There is probably more alcohol in mouthwash!!

The bottle looks more like S&OK soda than beer. Then for the Houlton Police Chief to make a statement like "The bottom line is, we are trying to promote a healthy lifestyle and we do not want products being marketed to youth that might affect their health". Give me a break! I would rather see my children drinking a natural lemonade with such a small amount of alcohol that it is classified "non-alcoholic" than drink Coke, Mountain Dew or any other soda. This sort of prudish behavior is the cause of alcoholism, not the cure! Wake up people, the Houlton police chief should spend more time worrying about opiate abuse and less about lemon ade with.05% alcohol!

This ruling will seem pretty tame compared to what's coming down the pike. When government-run health care is instituted, every aspect of our lives will be regulated and monitored...

Thank you AG for protecting us from ourselves again. Totally stupid.

Imitation liquor... what about root beer... it's brewed and says beer right on the brown bottle. Maybe the only suitable drinks for children should come in clear plastic harmful chimical exuding bottles should be sold to minors. It seems that the generation that grew up in the freedom loving 60's - 70's have become the biggest prudes of all. And it isn't just the far right wing wackos but also the left as well that is making this country into a repressive nanny state. "Victorian" lemonade should be just the ticket for the morality crowd. It seems we are in reverse instead of forward gear when it comes to social issues.

what has happened to this world, i just dont know anymore

If anyone needs any example of why this state is COMPLETELY effed,, here it is.

Heh....Heh....Heh.........A bunch of 'YAHOO'S' running the State Of Maine'.

Augusta hard at work again

What next, a $500 fine for giving your kid Nyquil? Honestly, there are a lot of things that could fall under this catagory. Cough medicines, mouthwash, and vanilla extract just to name a few. But I guess sinc ethey aren't sold in a glass bottle they are ok.

so glad i got out of maine, my tax dollars were helping these jackass's

Well, this is Maine. ANd we have tons of jealous insecure Maine rednecks, that beat up their girlfriends and wives. Whats the difference. Why not start them early, while their in high school, and let them consume 30 drinks, to get the effect of one beer!! hahahahahaha.

Better make sure that mouthwash and cough syrup are off the shelves! This is just silly. Front page news for two days! You know this 'story' has gone around the world. I find it embarassing.

I just can't believe all the nic-picking going on, oh yeah I can, you people all need to get a LIFE!!!. We are taxing our way into what now?? Could you take the mouthwash off the store selves also cause it could harm our kids too. Get over it people!!! It's not the States Job to Monitor our KIDS.. Whare are the parents???? You do your jobs!!!!

"Fentimans Victorian Lemonade was created in the United Kingdom in 1905 and now is distributed in the United States.

In England, company officials said the brouhaha in Maine is much ado about nothing.

'We see it as slightly absurd,' ”

Dear Fentimans:

Policy, and those who implement it in the USA are often more than "slightly" absurd. Try this; people referred to as "minors" in the State of Maine can sign contracts, purchase homes, engage in consensual sex, kill and die for their country, but these same people are not "responsible enough" to drink your lemonade.

You got it right...Puritans.

Shame on the suits responsible for this. We are making 'National news headlines' with this bull p@@p. When in France those cosmopolitans allow wine at meals for all.

Gawd!

Another example of tea-totalling puritanicals run amok. Give me a break! I have seen I.B.C. root beer bottles that bear a closer resemblance to beer bottles than this!! I think Fentimans North America should pursue this further...the decision is THAT stupid. These idiots that say they are doing things to "protect the children" really do go too far sometimes. Ugh!! I really hope the UK press is viewing these comment threads and gets the point that most Mainers agree with them that this is "slightly absurd"!

Anyone who would pay that price for a 9 ounce bottle of ' anything ' has too much money to waste. There are so many stupid drinks on the market, like those 2 ounce power drinks that are a rip off. Why do people buy that junk ?

An answer for you, louross---Thousands of the parents don't care if their kids drink alcohol. The kids can get it out of their parents cupboards and refridgerators.

Maybe if the lemonade company would sue the State of Maine, hit those puritanical idiots in the pocketbook, they would re-think this absurd new ruling. After all, this product was approved by the FDA as safe and fit for consumption by all. In my opinion, this new ruling constitutes "restraint of trade". Go Fentimans!!

I thought the AG was a position that required education. To get enough alcohol out of this to do equal a beer you would have to drink 23 or 25 an hour. Drinking it at a normal rate the body metabolizes this much alcohol in a few minutes. A person would have had to chugged it down and immediately blow in a breathalyzer to get any sort of a reading on this. You would get a higher reading from mouthwash 5 minutes later. How can this even be considered common sense on the part of the AG

ty his young teens shouldn't be drinking

This issue has nothing to do with the puritanical origins of the State of Maine, or the country as a whole. It has everything to do with lawsuits and (potentially) bad PR from a handful of advocacy groups (ie. MADD, etc). We've allowed ourselves to pass 'zero-tolerance' rules in an attempt to avoid making rational decisions, or allow ourselves to be open to a lawsuit.

This is the same reason why doctors participate in defensive medicine. If you order every test, regardless of probability, you can't be questions later why you may have missed something.

Well thank god the AG acted on a law enacted by the very sensible Maine Legislature...otherwise we would have kids running around with 25 to 30 bottles of lemonade stuffed under their coats...

Janet Mills - party HACK in charge of preserving the nanny state.

Mark90 wrote:

"We've allowed ourselves to pass 'zero-tolerance' rules in an attempt to avoid making rational decisions..."

I agree with you 100% but now tell me which party supports more freedom? The Republicans pass this idiocy, and the Democrats don't have the kahunas to oppose it. It's similar to world trade, the global economy, and capitalism in general, if one is opposed, they are also unrepresented.

Caller: Officer... we have a report of kids smoking weed down the street!

Police: Never mind that! We have fermented lemonade being sold to a high school student! Good thing the store is nead Dunkin Donuts... it saves me a trip!

HarryHSnyderIII - Which party is more in more in line with individual freedom? Generically I would say the Libertarian Party, but they don't win a lot of elections. As a whole, the GOP is probably better, but both parties are guilty of passing these types of laws. Most politicians want to be responsive to an issue/tragedy and say they stood up to the problem. Unfortunately the target is overshot on almost every occasion, and some other official is left to interpret the law/statute. In this example, the AG made the right call interpreting the statue on the books, but to most reasonable people, it sounds like a stupid decision. But the point needs to be made again -- the AG's job is to follow the law. The legislators are the ones who have tied his hand.

The only solution is to hold our elected officials accountable at the ballot box. We need to ask our representatives about their positions on personal freedoms, and hold them to it. Many times we lose the forest through the trees -- we asked candidates about 'gun rights' or 'abortion rights' and miss their larger philosophical position on personal freedoms.

I think we drug this subject threw the mud once too many times, let it go already, your all making me thirsty.

I grew up in the 50s/60s in a dry town up ta The County, and the alley across from the only grocery would have to have about a foot-deep layer of empty vanilla bottles hoed out a couple of times a year… which always drew tsk-tsks from the ladies of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Seems like there are a lot more serious issues for our police to fret about...to spend our tax money on...but holier-than-though moralists seem to think kids are going to pay $50-60 for English Lemonade with total alcohol equal to a beer. Absurd.

I grew up in the 50s/60s in a dry town up ta The County, and the alley across from the only grocery would have to have about a foot-deep layer of empty vanilla bottles hoed out a couple of times a year… which always drew tsk-tsks from the ladies of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Seems like there are a lot more serious issues for our police to fret about...to spend our tax money on...but holier-than-though moralists seem to think kids are going to pay $50-60 for English Lemonade with total alcohol equal to a beer. Absurd.

This has got to be the biggest waste of time. I'm thinking the fine folks at the AG's office should have to sit down one afternoon and drink 28 bottles of Fentimans and see what comes. Then if nothing happens, chase it back with 28 bottles of kombucha.

Perhaps we should better educate our youth in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry so the next generation will understand that fermentation occurs naturally, ever day, in our own bodies. But then again the sciences are voodoo and strictly verbotten by the puritanical prudes who want to regulate every last thing.

What next, all yeast born products should be banished from Maine? Period? No beer, no bread, no sourdough pancakes.

mainelyagony - your 7:03 post was spot-on! Why has this society constantly felt the need to "save us from ourselves"? Some of it is sheer lunacy! I'd personally like to see a one year moratorium on ANY new social laws just to let the people BREATHE again. I am so sick of the "fun" police constantly invading our freedoms! I beleive it is the # 1 problem in society today.... trying to legislate LIFE! STOP IT!!!!!!

hey little marty you changed the state ,your chest must be puffed out today

Well, people are right. Let the kiddies have free access to this stuff and they would quickly realize that drinking 28 bottles wouldn’t be fast enough. So next you would find clusters of kids in run down houses cooking down the lemonade on bent spoons, drawing up the concentrated alcohol and main lining the injections. The argument is perfectly clear, this is a gateway drug to hardcore addiction of cooked up lemonade.

Now they are all hooked, they can get methadone at the clinic and marijuana prescribed for their anxiety.

Just because your paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you.

If only people would remember all the stupid things our legislators and public servants do during their tenure at the voting booth!

this is stupid. Must be a slow news week in Houlton. I mean come on BDN isnt there something else you can report. Lets keep this going for another two weeks. This is why your subscription keeps going down. Where is the news in this? Wait I think a dog just ate some food that had 0.5% alcohol in it, lets stop the presses and gather another big news story. This is Great Investigative Reporting.

Wow, the Maine Attorney General’s Office moved really quickly on this one. Most impressive.

I, for one, will sleep peacefully tonight knowing that our young-uns will no longer be tempted into a Godless life of drunkenness and vile debauchery by this most dangerous product.

(Your "sarcasm meters" should be registering "off the scale.")