Technically the drinking age isn’t a national law at all. Setting the state law to alignment is a precondition for national highway funding. A state can set the age to whatever they want, but the federal government wouldn’t give money for road maintenance.
As such, different states define a prohibited beverage in different ways. Some set the limit based on a set alcohol limit. Others based on intent or similarity, essentially so that they can prevent advertising alcoholfree beverages to kids and getting them in the habit at an impressionable age.
Most common is the abv limit based on what’s typically found naturally in juices and such, with limited exceptions for religious ceremonies, parental supervision, or accidental ingestion and such. (Technically speaking, if you call 911 because your 3 year old stole a canned alcoholic beverage off the counter and drank a bunch before you noticed and you’re scared, they would be required to also give you and the child legal penalties without that clause).
Technically the drinking age isn’t a national law at all. Setting the state law to alignment is a precondition for national highway funding. A state can set the age to whatever they want, but the federal government wouldn’t give money for road maintenance.
As such, different states define a prohibited beverage in different ways. Some set the limit based on a set alcohol limit. Others based on intent or similarity, essentially so that they can prevent advertising alcoholfree beverages to kids and getting them in the habit at an impressionable age.
Most common is the abv limit based on what’s typically found naturally in juices and such, with limited exceptions for religious ceremonies, parental supervision, or accidental ingestion and such. (Technically speaking, if you call 911 because your 3 year old stole a canned alcoholic beverage off the counter and drank a bunch before you noticed and you’re scared, they would be required to also give you and the child legal penalties without that clause).