Sir, – The Irish Times recently drew attention to questions around alcohol-free products with commentators citing a lack of transparency around pricing.
What is clear, though, is that the marketing of these products with their identical branding to their master brands is being seen and absorbed by children.
Research has found that when children are exposed to these products they think of alcohol and view the brand positively, leading to calls from international public health experts to regard these products with caution.
Such caution is certainly merited in Ireland where youth drinking has surged over the past decade to levels not seen since the early 2000s – up from 66 per cent in 2016 to 78 per cent in 2025 among 15–24 year olds.
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Caution is also needed with industry statements in this area. An examination of such comments found there appears to be a divergence in how these products are described in public-facing publications, as tools to drive moderation, versus industry-facing publications, as tools to drive market growth.
A commonsense approach would be that the marketing of these products should be subject to the same modest controls as those on alcohol. Time to close the loophole. – Yours, etc,
Dr SHEILA GILHEANY,
Chief executive, Alcohol Action Ireland,
Coleraine Street,
Dublin 7.
