Hope4Life

No need to reset your sober date, IMHO.

While I agree about soda pop, NA Beer has been a stumbling block for MANY folks trying to remain sober. As previously stated, NA Beer, in fact, DOES have alcohol in it. While it is a minute amount, it is there and while you would have to drink more than humanly possible to get drunk.... what looks like a beer, feels like a beer and tastes like a beer is a beer.

I go to concerts all the time at all kinds of venues and I GUARANTEE that every single one has water... that is what I drink at shows.

Move forward and be more careful next time.

Good Luck!

FeenixxRising

I believe--but I obviously can't prove--that the vast majority of people with 5 or more years of sobriety have unintentionally consumed some type of product that contained alcohol. And I'd say they have no idea they've done so. Alcohol is in so many products that it would be hard to not unintentionally consume some type of alcohol over a 5 year period.

DoubleBarrel

Baloney.

Xtreem

Here I go again with my two cents!!!

I have just under 30 years of sobriety. during that time I have drank alcohol twice, here is how it happen...

1.) I was in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) on vacation and we were at a dance/festival/ocean side party. it was mostly about the food buffet, but people were drinking. Now keep in mind it can be very hot in Mexico, and it was. I ordered a virgin strawberry margarita, I emphasized three different times that I wanted NO alcohol in the drink. the waitress said she understood all three times. once the drink arrived I took a sip and it tasted like it had alcohol in it, the waitress had already left and there was no way to ask if there was or wasn't, just thought it tasted of it. I set the drink aside and waited for about 30 minutes in the heat to get a glass of water...felt safer ordering that..haha.

2.) we were in Bangkok Thailand and stopped in a bar. I ordered a coke and the person I was with ordered a whiskey and coke. when the waiter returned I asked "this one has no no alcohol right? as I pointed to my drink, he assured me it did not, I'm sure it did. we traded drink and I drink the coke.

Both times is a foreign country, both times they spoke broken English at best, both times I asked and was reassured that the drink would not have, or did not have alcohol in it, both time it did. (well, not 100% sure on the first one, but didn't want to risk it)

Did I change my sobriety date...nope

I see it this way, had I of willingly taken a second drink after I knew (or thought I knew it was alcohol) I would have considered it a relapse, I didn't.

Then again, I refuse to drink non-alcoholic beer simple because I heard it does contain some alcohol...to me that's a no no. Water taste better than soda to me and I seldom drink soda myself.

that's my experience, take it or leave it ;-)

Xtreem

FeenixxRising

Perhaps, but I believe I'm right. I only wish I could somehow prove it. Alcohol is found in food, medications, candy, mouthwash etc. etc. It's entirely reasonable to assume that many people with long term sobriety have unintentionally consumed at least trace amounts of alcohol without knowing they've done so.

CousinA

There is a very low, trace amount of alcohol in orange juice and other fruit juices. It is part of the natural fermentation process. The amount is less that 0.1% by volume.

it's ok to drink OJ. Please don't add vodka.


-allan

heath480

Welcome to SR and congratulations on your sober time,no need at all to reset your sobriety date.

I would not be drinking NA beer,it all contains Alcohol,even if the tiniest amount.

Hopefully you will be more vigilant net time you are in a similar situation.

CousinA

When I was first coming around I was told that I am responsible for anything I put in my mouth. My own personal feeling is that non alcoholic beer, wine or whatever, is for non alcoholics, but to each their own.

I've had I think two instances since I've been sober where I've had a mouthful of booze. The one I remember is an office party at a long ago job where my boss handed me a glass of what turned out to be a mimosa. I reflexively spit it out; recoiled as if from a hot flame like is says in the book. If I finished the drink and went for another it's another story.

-allan

Dee74

Not at all sure how this helps the OP.

Trace elements are..well trace elements...an average concentration of less than 100 parts per million or less than 100 micrograms per gram.

it's like claiming everyday foods are radioactive

10 Common Naturally Radioactive Foods

Technically true sure...but you may as well claim beer is radioactive too.

yes...I get really tired of this argument.

D

DoubleBarrel

Thanks Dee, it is a tired argument that ignores science for technicality.

Boleo

During my drinking career I was served the wrong drink hundreds of times. Even now, when I order a drink in any venue where alcohol can be served - I hold my drink up to a light to see if it has swirls of alcohol in it. I also take a wiff of it before I taste it. Just in case the order got screwed up somewhere along the line. This saved my sobriety date dozens of times so far.

Then again, if I were drinking NA beer I might not be able to rely on theses methods. Bottom line for me is - NA beer is for Non Alcoholics. Why would I want to play with fire in the first place.

FeenixxRising

Regarding the OP. I don't believe the unintentional consumption of alcohol is a big deal. I mentioned the number of products containing alcohol to point out how prevalent alcohol is as an ingredient, and how easy it is to accidentally consume alcohol. I hoped to assuage any fears the OP may have had that his slip-up was somehow unusual or cause for serious concern. For some reason, that notion has struck a nerve, and I'm not quite sure why.

Personally, I believe that many of us tend to get a little too upset about this issue. Alcohol is so prevalent in many forms in Western society that these mistakes are bound to happen. And judging by the number of threads on SR about this very issue, these mistakes are quite frequent. Bottom line, if alcohol is consumed by mistake, I think it's best to move forward without a lot hand wringing and worry. Worrying and gnashing one's teeth over questions of changing sobriety dates or if an accidental sip of beer constitutes a full-blown relapse is counterproductive IMO.

desypete

i am reminded of a time i went to an xmas meeting in my area a good few years ago and there was about 30 odd members there

the group leader made a public apology to everyone because the mince pies they had served up had traces of brandy in it !!!!!!!

it made me laugh my socks off as so many members turned white and didn't know what to do
no one ended up drunk that night but many were full of fear lol

did they all reset there dates no why should they as they never did anything with the intention of taking a drink or getting drunk

the mere trace of brandy in a mince pie is so small it just can not have an effect like a mouthful of booze can

we all have alcohol in our bodys i dont know how much % our bodys make but its there everyday 24 /7 so if anyone wants to get technical about it then none of us will ever be sober as we have alcohol in our bodys all the time

freshstart57

It is a tired argument partly because it is not widely appreciated or apparently understood. It is not really any argument at all but a statement of fact. Snapple fruit punch has the same amount of alcohol as NA beer - 0.48% vs 0.5%. Describing this fact as a tired argument does not change the fact. Science is indeed being ignored here, but not in the manner suggested. This is not a trace amount if that description is used: this fruit juice actually has 50 times that trace amount, or 5000 ppm.

My aim is not to promote hysteria but to the contrary. My intent is to show that FeenixRising is correct, and discounting his data is simply wrong. Alcohol, in small but easily measured amounts, is found in all sorts of common everyday substances.

The argument, if there is any at all, is that these amounts of alcohol are not important, and more information can help us all make better decisions about our behavior. Decisions based on incorrect information lead to confusion and hysteria. These are things that OP and others seeking to quit drinking do not need.

andyroo72

Fruit juice contains small amounts of alcohol. I think where you draw the line is a personal choice, it's not a matter of agreement or disagreement.

Dee74

Thank you for your public service Feenix and FS - but I'll stand by my thoughts on this one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1635190.html

You'd need to drink 10, 000 cans to get a buzz...your organs would give out long before that

D

Hawks

I had a bad cough about 3 weeks ago.

Frustrated with the coughing fits, I went to the cupboard where we keep the cough medicine, all kids strength stuff, we didn't have any adult strength, as its been a long time since we've needed any.

Took a good size swig out of the bottle, swallowed it & went "DOH !!"

Oops .... It totally slipped my mind that cough medicine has alcohol in it, even the kids strength stuff.

No buzz, no thought to have another swig ... I just thought "must remember that next time I have a cough"

I'll go get a packet of Fishermans Friend next time

FeenixxRising

I have T-2 diabetes, so I have a double whammy when it comes to OTC medications. Many contain some variation of sugar, so I have to check for both alcohol and sugar. As for food, I'm not as concerned when alcohol is used in the process because the amounts are very small per serving.

freshstart57

Agreed, D, and I'll stand by your thoughts about the soft drinks mentioned in your article along with you. On the other hand, those are not the drinks mentioned in mine. I was talking about a particular snapple drink that has 0.48%, abv, which you are comparing to 0.001% abv. This is a difference of over two and a half orders of magnitude.

If your contention is that at NA beer ABV levels, and the trace amounts which remain from cooked wine in food levels, and many other examples such as the miniscule amounts in your reference, we should have the same level of concern as radioactivity in peanut butter, I agree with you completely. We shouldn't be obsessed about this and instead work on more positive aspects about getting and staying sober.

Dee74

Thanks Fresh.

The Snapples you mention don't seem to be banned anywhere else in the Islamic world but that UAE/Kuwaiti region, so with all due respect I think the smart money is on other factors coming into play there.

[I seem to remember reading they were returned to the shelves too, but I haven't got the time to chase that up properly. If I'm wrong on any of this, or you find any later dated updates let me know [(by PM would be good, cos this whole discussion is increasingly becoming more and more tangential to the OP?).]

As for NA beer, I've shared my experience many times. I believe my mishaps over such beverages were related more to repeated behaviours/rituals associated with drinking real beer, not alcoholic content (NA beer in my country is only very slightly more alcoholic than those Snapples tested...but they bought me undone nonetheless)

I respect my recovery - I also respect my common sense.

For that reason I don't drink NA beer or eat food cooked with alcohol...snapples or cokes or fruit juices, tho? I'll drink my fill happily

D