Lithuania: Lithuania bans sale of nonalcoholic beer and wine to minors

Lithuania’s parliament on November 12 banned the sale, purchase and transfer of nonalcoholic beer, wine, cider and other drinks that reference alcoholic beverages on their packaging to people under 18, LRT reported.

The amendments to the Law on Food were approved with 48 votes in favour, 18 against and 26 abstentions.

Separate amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses establish fines of 60 to 120 euros for selling such drinks to minors and 20 to 50 euros for purchasing or transferring them. The penalties are the same as those imposed for selling energy drinks to minors.

The proposal’s author, Social Democrat Darius Razmislevičius, argued that nonalcoholic drinks designed to imitate alcoholic beverages resemble beer, wine, cider and spirits in their appearance, taste and even smell, potentially encouraging young people to consume alcohol later in life.

“I understand that this is an excellent alternative for adults who want to reduce their alcohol consumption or give it up entirely, but for children it is completely unsuitable,” he told the parliament.

He added that nonalcoholic beer can contain up to 0.5% alcohol, while nonalcoholic wine can contain up to 1.2%.

Social Democrat Birutė Vėsaitė argued that drinks imitating alcoholic beverages were helping cultivate “a new generation of drunks”.

Tomas Tomilinas, of the Democrats “For Lithuania” group, said Latvia had recently introduced measures similar to those Lithuania adopted six or seven years ago, while Poland was actively implementing comparable restrictions.

However, lawmaker Ignas Vėgėlė argued that bans were not the right approach and, where necessary, should be carefully considered.

He questioned the rationale behind restrictions on energy drinks, noting that young people could consume similar amounts of caffeine by drinking coffee in cafés.

12 November, 2026