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Innovations in alcohol-free living

For many people, the new year offers an opportunity to prioritise your health and wellbeing, with reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption being a popular resolution, not just for January. While avoiding alcohol can prevent pesky hangovers, it is also associated with a variety of health benefits, including improved sleep and better liver function. The rise in interest in alcohol-free lifestyles has spurred significant innovation in the development of alternatives to alcohol consumption.

The alcohol-free revolution

An ever-growing range of alcohol-free alternatives are being produced by drinks companies, available in supermarkets and hostelries across the UK.

One such example of an alcohol-free alternative is disclosed in Japanese patent JP4819182B2, which relates to a method for producing an unfermented beer-flavoured malt beverage that contains zero alcohol. A typical method used to brew beer comprises the following steps:

  1. Mashing malt, such as that obtained from barley, adding water and heating the malt-water mixture in a process known as saccharification, a process whereby starch is converted into sugar, resulting in a product called wort;
  2. Filtering the wort, adding hops and boiling the wort-hops mixture in order to add flavours and aromas that one might associate with beer; and
  3. Cooling the wort-hops mixture and adding yeast to promote fermentation, thereby producing alcohol within the mixture.

As explained in the patent, completely removing alcohol from beer following fermentation proves challenging and omitting the step of adding yeast to the mixture, thereby producing no alcohol, may result in a beer with an unpleasant taste. To this end, the inventors found that by treating wort with activated carbon, the unpleasant flavour associated with wort is adsorbed and removed from the beverage, resulting in an unfermented malt beverage with an appropriate beer flavour containing zero alcohol.

Synthetic alcohol

Professor David Nutt, a world-leading psychopharmacologist, published a controversial research paper in 2007 concluding that he believes alcohol to be a dangerous substance, with a perceived harm greater than many controlled substances as classified under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and that, were ethanol-based drinks invented today, that those drinks might also be controlled under this act.

To this end, GABA Labs, a company co-founded by Professor Nutt and who acts as Chief Scientific Officer, aims to produce ingredients that are an alternative to alcohol, mimicking the good effects of alcohol while leaving behind the bad ones.

In 2018, the company, then called Alcarelle, filed two patents entitled “mood enhancing compounds”. One of these compounds is now known as Alcarelle and is a synthetic alcohol molecule. Not yet on the market, it was due to enter the US FDA regulatory process in mid-2024 and is said to likely be available from 2026/7, with full market approval taking place in 2027.

The plan is to license this ingredient to drinks companies with the expectation that a whole new generation of drinks will be created. Perhaps these up-and-coming alcohol alternatives will be available in a bar near you in the next few years.

Innovations for managing alcohol’s effects

However, if you experience any unpleasant symptoms associated with drinking alcohol, all is not lost. Chinese patent CN102218096B discloses a composition that aims to relieve the effects of alcohol, prevent hangovers and disintoxicate alcoholic drinks, by employing a mix of Ju Hovenia fruit extract concentrate, nicotinamide, prickly pear extract, lotus extract and Huang Qi extract, using a particular method of extraction and preparation.

In a similar vein, US patent US10376554B1 is alleged to alleviate hangover symptoms by cleansing the body and filtering out any toxins, while replacing nutrients. More specifically, this patent relates to a composition and method comprising administering to a subject experiencing a hangover juiced onions, juiced cucumbers, and juiced leafy green vegetables, in varying proportions. Whether or not formulae such as these are effective or not in relieving symptoms, only time will tell.

The future for alcohol-free alternatives

Whilst you may find alcohol-free bars in cities across the UK, difficult economic times and increased overhead costs have forced a number to close over the last year despite their growing popularity. But the demand for alcohol-free drinks is on the rise, according to news reports on the growth of this market and consumer trends, not forgetting NHS guidance stating that there is no cure for a hangover.

The global market for alcohol-free beverages may still be in its infancy, accounting for around one per cent of global sales, but the opportunity is vast. Brewers and distillers can reach a new group of consumers as it’s reported the non-alcoholic wine and beer market is due to reach over $40 billion by 2032. Big business, indeed.

For anyone looking to take advantage of these trends, develop alcohol-free drinks and enter into this emerging market, it is important to have a robust IP strategy in place.

And for further information and advice on alcohol consumption, please visit the NHS website.

This is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Should you require advice on this or any other topic then please contact hlk@hlk-ip.com or your usual HLK adviser.