On Mon, 12 May 2008 23:11:44 +0100, Charles Ellson
wrote:

Am I? I just remember cans of Shandy Bass in the late 60s with the warning
"contains no more than 2% alcohol"

I remember cans of shandy and some ginger beer as showing "not more
than 2° proof".

My memory goes with the percentage labelling too.

To quote from the fount of all knowledge, aka Wikipedia:

In the United States, beverages containing up to 0.5% alcohol by
volume (ABV) can be legally called non-alcoholic according to the
Volstead Act. Due to the extremely low alcohol content present in
various brands of "NA" (non-alcoholic) beer, the sale to minors and
adults under age 21 is legal in most states.

In the UK the following descriptions apply by law (correct at May
2007):
No alcohol/alcohol free: not more than 0.05% ABV
Dealcoholised: over 0.05% but not more than 0.5% ABV
Low alcohol: not more than 1.2% ABV