Non-Alcoholic Odouls & Pregnancy: What You Need to Know

Question
IS IT OK FOR ME TO CONTINUE DRINKING ODOUL'S? SINCE IT SAYS NON ALCOHOLIC W/ 0.5 ALCOHOL.

Answer
Dear Lachelle,

No level of drinking alcohol has been proven safe during pregnancy. There are some non-alcoholic options. But please note: The legal definition of "non-alcoholic" is a product that contains less than 1/2 of 1% of alcohol.  (This is less alcohol than most fresh squeezed orange juice - you can also find trace amounts of alcohol in orange juice and bread). Alcohol is a natural by-product of the fermentation process. It is impossible to remove all the alcohol.

From what I can find, O'Douls does have one-half of 1 percent alcohol by volume. But there is another option of O'Douls - O'Douls Amber - that is considered non-alcoholic. There is also Busch NA and St. Pauli Non-Alcoholic beers to choose from, plus a few others. St. Pauli was the Gold Medal winner for the American Tasting Institute Best Imported Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage from 00'-02'. Any of these non-alcoholic beers would likely be ok for a pregnant woman to drink on occasion - but not in excess. If you would want to have one to have the taste of a beer, I very much doubt that your doctor would forbid it on occasion.

The specific recommendation should come from your own personal OB doctor, since medical opinions on this vary widely and the risk level of the pregnancy would play a part in the recommendation.

I hope this information has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda