Houlton, Maine is the center for a brewing controversy over the exact nature of Fentimans Victorian Lemonade. In essence, the question is “Does having ‘less than 0.5%’ alcoholic content mean it shouldn’t be sold to minors?”
The debate has come about after a local high school student brought a bottle of the lemonade to school, and noticed the content description on the label as he was drinking it. Representatives from the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse have weighed in on the issue, saying that even 0.5% is enough to keep the product from being sold to underage drinkers. Police Chief Butch Asselin has said “It is similar to why we do not make or market candy cigarettes anymore. It is just not a good example to youth.”
Greg Warwick, the president of Fentimans North America, has argued “The Food and Drug Administration has deemed this safe for all ages. There should be no restrictions on the distribution or sale of the product.” And indeed, to obtain any sort of function impairment related to consumption of this product would require drinking an inordinate amount.
Who’s right in this case? It’s true that we have a mandate to protect our children from potentially harmful substances, at the very least educating them about their dangers, if not outright making their possession difficult or impossible through the execution of safety laws. And judging by the reaction of the teen who turned his drink in once he’d noticed the description on the label, he’d learned this lesson well. But it seems the concern is also about how the drink is perceived, with the shape of the bottle contributing to the notion that it might be alcoholic. Unfortunately, now that this issue has been raised, it could cause others to seek out the beverage and experiment with it. This is a difficult issue to judge, but that shouldn’t stop parents from discussing matters like these with their kids. Communication trumps all other issues.
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