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alkoholfrei

English translation: "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" or "non-alcoholic" or "alcohol-free" or "soft"

08:31 Oct 31, 2001
German to English translations [Non-PRO]
Science
German term or phrase: alkoholfrei
d
Jason
English translation:"dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" or "non-alcoholic" or "alcohol-free" or "soft"
Explanation:

You did not specifically mention beer or wine, so if you mean some other beverage, the most normal everyday term is "soft" as in "soft drinks".

As far as malt beverages or beer goes, I used to do a lot of translation for breweries years ago. "Non-alcoholic" is the translation that has been decided upon by the two largest breweries in Germany, Holsten and Binding, but this translation is considered by some (including the American FDA) to be technically inaccurate and possible misleading. "Non-alcoholic" should mean 0.0% alcohol in English. It should mean that a product so labeled is safe for consumption by persons with an alcohol addiction. However, the German term often only means less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (because that is the German legal definition of "alkoholfrei"). This is also roughly what the American FDA says but they use "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed". A product with 0.4% alcohol (by volume) is not considered safe for a person with an alcohol addiction. Clausthaler, the world's most popular and well-known "alkoholfrei" malt beverage (with so little alcohol, some parts of the world do not allow the word "beer" to be used) has 0.45 ml/100 ml alcohol or 0.45% by volume.

The reason for the somewhat lax sounding FDA and German legal requirements is that all vegetable or fruit drinks ferment a little in the bottle or can and even more after opening. This means there is nothing with sugar in it that is really 0.0% non-alcoholic because some of the sugar naturally changes to alcohol with time and yeast spores from the air. That's how beer was originally happened upon 5-6,000 years ago anyway.

The term "low-alcohol" is preferred by some but the term has never been really taken off, probably because it has never been very clearly defined for large markets. The breweries don't like it because it sounds too negatively unclear. Neither fish nor fowl they say.

This discussion by Carlsberg will give you some more info on the subject:

http://www.carlsberg.com/info/beer/nutrition/nonalcoholic.ht...

and the FDA says:

"The term "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" should appear in the statement of identity, immediately preceding either the term "wine" or the standard of identity [27 CFR 4.21] designation of the type of wine from which it was derived, such as "burgundy." The qualifying words "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" should appear in letters equal in size to "wine" or to the standardized name on the principal display panel of the label. Where a specific designation is used, such as "dealcoholized claret" or "alcohol-removed burgundy," the product must be true to source type as defined by BATF regulations. To ensure that consumers are not misled as to the alcohol content of the product, the statement of identity should be followed by the declaration, "contains less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume." FDA considers use of the terms "dealcoholized" and "alcohol-removed" in the statement of identity of a reduced alcohol wine product to be misleading if the alcohol content exceeds 0.5 percent by volume.
We do not object to the presence of the additional label claim "non-alcoholic" on labels of dealcoholized wines. However, the term "non-alcoholic" should not be used in lieu of the term "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" as the sole qualifier in the statement of identity of the wine product.
FDA does not consider the terms "non-alcoholic" and "alcohol-free" to be synonymous. The term "alcohol-free" may be used only when the product contains no detectable alcohol."

at:

http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/cpg/cpgfod/cpg510-400....

HTH

Dan


Selected response from:

Dan McCrosky (X)
Local time: 10:05
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +9non-alcoholic
Mats Wiman
4 +6alcohol-free
Mary Worby
5non-alcoholic drinks; soft drinks
Michael Tettinek
4alcohol free
Hanna Burdon
4non-alcoholic
Mary Worby
1"dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" or "non-alcoholic" or "alcohol-free" or "soft"
Dan McCrosky (X)


  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
alcohol-free


Explanation:
or alkoholfreie Getränke are normally just 'soft drinks'

HTH

Mary

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 2770

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alison Schwitzgebel: if it's beer or wine it's definately alcohol free
1 hr
agree  Yves Georges
1 hr
agree  Simon Charass
2 hrs
agree  mckinnc
2 hrs
agree  Henri (X)
3 hrs
agree  JózsefÁrpád Bende
4 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
alcohol free


Explanation:
alcohol-free

Hanna Burdon
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Native speaker of: Polish
PRO pts in pair: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +9
non-alcoholic


Explanation:
e.g. Non-alcoholic drinks


    Duden-Oxford+MW
Mats Wiman
Sweden
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish
PRO pts in pair: 1498

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mary Worby
4 mins
agree  Sheila Hardie
4 mins
agree  Andy Lemminger
7 mins
agree  Alison Schwitzgebel: if it's a soft drink, like cola or juice
1 hr
agree  Yves Georges
1 hr
agree  cochrum
2 hrs
agree  Henri (X)
3 hrs
agree  Thomas Bollmann
4 hrs
agree  sonni
2 days 21 hrs
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
non-alcoholic


Explanation:
Thinking about it always helps!

HTH

Mary

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 2770
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
non-alcoholic drinks; soft drinks


Explanation:
Non-alcoholic drinks is the generic term, but in practice you will usually come across the term soft drinks for.

Michael Tettinek
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Danish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
"dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" or "non-alcoholic" or "alcohol-free" or "soft"


Explanation:

You did not specifically mention beer or wine, so if you mean some other beverage, the most normal everyday term is "soft" as in "soft drinks".

As far as malt beverages or beer goes, I used to do a lot of translation for breweries years ago. "Non-alcoholic" is the translation that has been decided upon by the two largest breweries in Germany, Holsten and Binding, but this translation is considered by some (including the American FDA) to be technically inaccurate and possible misleading. "Non-alcoholic" should mean 0.0% alcohol in English. It should mean that a product so labeled is safe for consumption by persons with an alcohol addiction. However, the German term often only means less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (because that is the German legal definition of "alkoholfrei"). This is also roughly what the American FDA says but they use "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed". A product with 0.4% alcohol (by volume) is not considered safe for a person with an alcohol addiction. Clausthaler, the world's most popular and well-known "alkoholfrei" malt beverage (with so little alcohol, some parts of the world do not allow the word "beer" to be used) has 0.45 ml/100 ml alcohol or 0.45% by volume.

The reason for the somewhat lax sounding FDA and German legal requirements is that all vegetable or fruit drinks ferment a little in the bottle or can and even more after opening. This means there is nothing with sugar in it that is really 0.0% non-alcoholic because some of the sugar naturally changes to alcohol with time and yeast spores from the air. That's how beer was originally happened upon 5-6,000 years ago anyway.

The term "low-alcohol" is preferred by some but the term has never been really taken off, probably because it has never been very clearly defined for large markets. The breweries don't like it because it sounds too negatively unclear. Neither fish nor fowl they say.

This discussion by Carlsberg will give you some more info on the subject:

http://www.carlsberg.com/info/beer/nutrition/nonalcoholic.ht...

and the FDA says:

"The term "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" should appear in the statement of identity, immediately preceding either the term "wine" or the standard of identity [27 CFR 4.21] designation of the type of wine from which it was derived, such as "burgundy." The qualifying words "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" should appear in letters equal in size to "wine" or to the standardized name on the principal display panel of the label. Where a specific designation is used, such as "dealcoholized claret" or "alcohol-removed burgundy," the product must be true to source type as defined by BATF regulations. To ensure that consumers are not misled as to the alcohol content of the product, the statement of identity should be followed by the declaration, "contains less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume." FDA considers use of the terms "dealcoholized" and "alcohol-removed" in the statement of identity of a reduced alcohol wine product to be misleading if the alcohol content exceeds 0.5 percent by volume.
We do not object to the presence of the additional label claim "non-alcoholic" on labels of dealcoholized wines. However, the term "non-alcoholic" should not be used in lieu of the term "dealcoholized" or "alcohol-removed" as the sole qualifier in the statement of identity of the wine product.
FDA does not consider the terms "non-alcoholic" and "alcohol-free" to be synonymous. The term "alcohol-free" may be used only when the product contains no detectable alcohol."

at:

http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/cpg/cpgfod/cpg510-400....

HTH

Dan




Dan McCrosky (X)
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 1541
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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