Mexico is one of the countries with the highest beer consumption. This is not an assessment, but data: they are the fourth largest beer consumer after China (a true giant in this sense), the United States and Brazil. Mexico accounts for 5.2% of global beer consumption and, to compare with other countries, Germany is sixth with 4.1% and Spain ninth with 2.3%. In addition, it has a position outstanding in the market as a producer, exporter and importer of beer.
In fact, according to the dataModelo Especial is the most consumed beer in the United States, and it belongs to a Mexican group. Within the world of beer, there are a lot of types that depend on different fermentation, maturation and raw material processes, but to reduce it a lot, there are three types of beer: regular, non-alcoholic and 0.0.
And the latest report from Profeco (the Federal Consumer Protection Agency of the Mexican government) makes it clear that there are a number of beers that should not be classified as beer. They simply do not exist.
Non-alcoholic beer does not exist in Mexico
We are not going to go into the difference in taste or whether you can tell when a beer is alcohol-free or… normal. What we are going to say is that it is an option when you want to enjoy this drink and its properties, but you do not want to consume alcohol. It may be by your own will, for medical or health reasons or because you are going to drive later, but alcohol-free beer is a solution in these cases.
Europe, for example, has also traditionally been a land of brewers, and in recent years the production of non-alcoholic beer has been promoted. In fact, from 2022 to 2023, its production increased by 13%. And there is a subtle, but fundamental, difference to understand these drinks:
- Non-alcoholic beer It is one that has an alcohol content of less than 1%. Therefore, it has alcohol, although in a negligible amount.
- Beer 0.0 It is a beer that has been treated so that its alcohol content does not exceed 0.04%. If it does, it would be considered a non-alcoholic beer.
This is controlled in the brewing process by different methods. For example, during the brewing of the drink, the temperature of the fermentation is controlled so that the yeast does not develop as much and feeds less on the sugars of the barley, thus producing less alcohol. Another way is to heat the already brewed drink to bring it to the boil so that the alcohol evaporates, but not the water.
For Mexico, however, the result of this process cannot be called ‘beer’. In the last number From the Consumer Magazine, Profeco states the following:
“The alcohol content of beer ranges from 2% to 20%, so products with less than 2% alcohol cannot use the name ‘beer’, since they are non-alcoholic beverages.”
In this, they have been blunt and the result is that some brands will have to change their label. For the analysis on beer, Profeco examined 19 products: 12 low-alcohol beers and 7 non-alcoholic beverages (here they leave the nuance that they are ‘beverages’, not ‘beer’). They checked the alcohol content, the energy content, the volatile components and the sodium. And in the report we can see that Those that do not contain alcohol do not use the term “beer”but rather “non-alcoholic beverage”, “non-alcoholic malt beverage” or “wheat, barley and hop malt-flavored beverage”.
All of them… except one: the Mahou 0.0 toasted beer. On the label it is called “alcoholic-free beer”, but the report itself states that the drink does not comply due to incomplete information for the consumer, since it cannot use the word “beer” due to the absence of alcohol.
War on sugar in beer
Aside from this open war on non-alcoholic beer in Mexico, the report also contains an interesting analysis of sugar content. These drinks can also be chosen if you are looking to lose weight. to reduce alcohol consumption. However, beer, due to its own components, has calories and, in addition, Profeco points out that some low-alcohol beers (now called non-alcoholic beverages) are loaded with sugar.
Apart from the Mahou 0.0 Tostada, we have the Erdinguer Weissbier, the Tecate Cero and the Old Milwaukee with the highest sugar content. In the end, it is a question of naming a product so that the consumer has a much clearer idea of what the product is and the label of said product, so we will see if brands like Mahou respond to this analysis by Profeco.
In any case, the rise of non-alcoholic beer has spread beyond Europe and, as our colleagues at Xataka Mexico point out, in the country people drink more non-alcoholic beer – a non-alcoholic malt-based beverage, sorry – 64% more than in 2015.
Images | Profeco, Koefbac, Jorge Royan
At Xataka | In the United States they are making beer with water from showers and sinks. And they have good reasons
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