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Hard soda, the new alcopop

September 4, 2015

henrys hard soda
MillerCoors recently announced a new product line of hard ginger ale and orange soda expected to reach retailers across the U.S. in January, just before the Super Bowl. The Big Beer producer is following after Boston Beer Co. launched a new craft beer called Coney Island Hard Root Beer this summer, and Pabst began selling Not Your Father's Root Beer in early 2015.

These flavored alcoholic beverages continue the sugary, foamy, colorful, inexpensive tradition of earlier alcopops, and in some ways, perhaps even more so. They closely resemble their alcopop counterparts as well as nonalcoholic soda, and like alcopops have the potential to encourage youth consumption and lead to alcohol-related harm.

MillerCoors and its hard soda line leans heavily on statements that the drink is made with cane sugar, deeming it as a better-for-you ingredient in an alcoholic beverage. Ironically, sodas and juice have become less popular at the same time that many producers are making and promoting alcoholic products that look and taste like soda. More than 60% of Americans recently reported that they avoid soda due to fears of high calories and sugar content with links to obesity and diabetes, and 50% avoided sugar for the same reasons.

Visit our Alcopop-Free Zone® campaign page to learn more about banning sales of youth-oriented products.