no-and-low

---
name: no-and-low
description: Builds a no and low alcohol range for a UK venue and writes the menu wording that goes with it, using the government's own descriptor thresholds so that nothing on the board says alcohol free when the law expects de-alcoholised, with the ABV shown, the draught rule handled and the advertising rules on alcohol alternatives applied before it is printed. Use when the driver, the pregnant guest and the person not drinking this month are all leaving after one lime and soda.
---

# A range the driver will actually buy, with wording that will survive a trading standards visit

You give this what you already stock, what your supplier can deliver, how each drink is dispensed, and your current menu wording. You get back one dated file: a range sheet with the correct descriptor and ABV for every line, menu copy that matches the government's descriptor thresholds, the point of purchase wording for anything on draught, the advertising rules that apply to a no and low drink and which of your current sentences break them, and a numbered list of what must change before the menu is printed. It will not tell you that a category is growing by some percentage, and it will not write a health claim.

## What it does

1. **Set the four descriptors down first, because most venues are already using one of them wrongly.** The Department of Health and Social Care's Low Alcohol Descriptors Guidance, published 13 December 2018, sets the conditions. "Low alcohol" means "the drink must be 1.2% alcohol by volume (abv) or below and an indication of its maximum abv should be included on the label". "Alcohol free" "should only be applied to a drink from which the alcohol has been extracted if it contains no more than 0.05% abv". "De-alcoholised" applies where the drink has had the alcohol extracted and "contains no more than 0.5% abv". "Non-alcoholic" "should not be used in conjunction with a name commonly associated with an alcoholic drink", with a narrow exception for communion wine. Most of the well known zero beers are 0.5%, which puts them in de-alcoholised and not in alcohol free.

2. **Say out loud that this is guidance, and say what happens if you ignore it.** The guidance replaced "the rules set out in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996, which were revoked on 13 December 2018", and use of the descriptors "is voluntary". That is not permission to write anything. Enforcement sits with trading standards: "Local Trading Standards Departments are responsible for ensuring that labelling is compliant with the law and will have regard to this guidance to help determine compliance. A breach of the descriptor rules could lead to enforcement action against the Food Business Operator if it means that the labelling is misleading, inaccurate or unclear." Put that sentence in the file, because the usual objection is that everyone else says alcohol free.

3. **Check whether the threshold has moved, and record the answer with its date.** It has not. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities consulted on raising the alcohol free threshold to 0.5% ABV; that consultation ran from midday on 28 September 2023 to 11:59pm on 23 November 2023, and as read on 16 September 2026 the GOV.UK page still states "We are analysing your feedback" with no outcome published. So the 0.05% figure stands today. Write the date you checked into the file, because this is the single fact in the whole range sheet most likely to change, and a menu printed on a rumour is a menu reprinted.

4. **Handle draught separately, because the descriptor has to reach the customer before they buy.** The guidance is explicit: "If the drinks are dispensed on draught, the descriptors should be clear to the consumer prior to or at the point of purchase." A keg badge that says the brand and nothing else does not do that. For every no and low line on draught, write the exact font of words for the tap badge, the board and the menu, all three, and record where each will physically appear. This is the step venues skip, and it is the one an officer standing at the bar can see in two seconds.

5. **Print the ABV on every line, on the menu as well as the bottle.** The CAP Code requires it for marketing: rule 18.19 states "Marketing communications for alcohol alternatives must include a prominent statement of their ABV", and adds that such communications "are not prohibited from making a feature of their ABV or from making preference claims on this basis". So 0.0%, 0.5% and 1.2% each go on the menu beside the drink. There is a commercial reason as well as a rule. The customer deciding whether to drive is doing arithmetic, and a range that hides the number sends them to the lime and soda that costs you two pounds instead of the four you could have taken.

6. **Rewrite any sentence that sells sobriety short, and any that sells drinking.** Rule 18.21 is the one written for this exact product: "Marketing communications for alcohol alternatives must not contain content likely to disparage sobriety, or condone or encourage heavy, problematic, or otherwise higher-risk alcohol consumption as desirable. They must not present alcohol alternatives as a way to increase alcohol consumption beyond responsible levels." So "for when you have to be the boring one", "for the designated driver, sorry", and "have one of these so you can have three more later" all come off. Rule 18.20 gives you back something better: an alcohol alternative may be shown "in circumstances where consumption of alcoholic drinks would be inappropriate or unsafe, such as prior to driving or daring physical activities, if it is clear the product is an alcohol alternative".

7. **Make no health, fitness or weight claim, on the menu or on the social post.** Rule 18.17 permits factual information about contents "but must not make any health, fitness or weight-control claims. The only permitted nutrition claims are 'low-alcohol', 'reduced alcohol' and 'reduced energy' and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer." That rules out "guilt free", "clean", "healthy option", "detox" and calorie boasting dressed as a benefit. It is the rule most often broken in no and low copy because the writer is reaching for a reason to choose the drink and health is the nearest one to hand.

8. **Watch the shared brand name, because it drags the alcohol rules back in.** Rule 18.18 provides that where an alcohol alternative "shares the same brand as an alcoholic drink" the responsible portrayal rules do not apply to the brand name itself, "provided that the primary effect of the marketing communication is to promote the alcohol alternative", and then warns: "References to the shared brand name, in any part of the marketing communication, without a reference to the alcohol alternative, are likely to be understood as references to alcohol." In practice, a post showing the brand and the venue with no mention of the zero version is an alcohol advertisement, and the full Section 18 rules including the under-18 media and 25-year-old rules apply to it.

9. **Settle the service questions the range creates, and write them down.** Three of them. First, licensing: section 191 of the Licensing Act 2003 excludes from the meaning of alcohol anything "of a strength not exceeding 0.5% at the time of the sale or supply in question", so a 0.5% drink is outside the Act, and the venue's own policy on serving it to under-18s is a decision to make deliberately and record, not to leave to whoever is on the bar. Second, labelling: the descriptor guidance notes "It is a requirement to label the nutritional contents and ingredients for all drinks with 1.2% abv or below", so the ingredient and allergen information you can get for a wine you sell is not the information you can get for a de-alcoholised one, and you need it. Third, water: the mandatory licence condition requires the responsible person to ensure "that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available", which is the free alternative already sitting behind everything you price.

## Then it checks

1. Every line on the range sheet carries a measured or supplier-stated ABV and the descriptor that the DHSC thresholds allow for that number, with no line at above 0.05% ABV described as alcohol free.
2. Every draught no and low line has its wording recorded for all three of tap badge, board and menu, with the physical location of each named.
3. Every line shows its ABV on the menu copy as well as on the product, and no line shows the descriptor without the number.
4. No sentence of menu or promotional copy disparages sobriety, presents the drink as a way to drink more alcohol, or makes a health, fitness, weight or calorie claim, and every sentence removed is recorded with the rule number that removed it.
5. Any copy that names a brand shared with an alcoholic drink also names the alcohol alternative in the same piece, or it is marked as an alcohol advertisement and the Section 18 rules are applied to it in full.
6. The file records the date the alcohol free threshold was last checked against the GOV.UK page, and states that the 2023 consultation outcome was still unpublished on that date.

Any check fails: name it, redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only.
- Never invent a fact, a number or a quote.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never write that a drink is alcohol free unless its ABV is no more than 0.05%. The word is the whole point of the category, and using it at 0.5% is both the commonest error in the trade and the one a customer who does not drink at all will notice first.
- Never write a health, fitness, weight, calorie or wellbeing benefit for any drink in the range, however true it might be, and never soften it into an implication.
- Never state a market size, growth rate, category share or "x% of your customers now want this". No such figure exists for one independent venue, and a range built on a borrowed number is a fridge full of stock.
- Never carry a descriptor forward from a previous menu without re-reading the ABV on the current stock. Producers reformulate, and a line that was 0.05% last year may be 0.5% this year with the same label design.
- Never let a no and low drink be served in a way that makes it look alcoholic to someone who did not order it. Record the glassware and garnish decision for each line so the person who asked for no alcohol can see what they are holding.
- This output is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own stock and supplier specifications, and for their trading standards officer, licensing officer or solicitor to check before the menu is printed. It applies published government guidance and published advertising rules to draft wording; it is not a ruling that the wording complies and it is not legal advice.

## Built from
- Department of Health and Social Care, "Low Alcohol Descriptors Guidance", https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c10f47f40f0b60c1ec239cc/low-alcohol-descriptors-guidance.pdf, published 13 December 2018, read 16 September 2026: all four descriptor thresholds in step 1, the voluntary use and trading standards enforcement wording in step 2, the draught point of purchase rule in step 4, and the labelling requirement for drinks at 1.2% ABV or below in step 9.
- Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, "Updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives", https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/updating-labelling-guidance-for-no-and-low-alcohol-alternatives, published 28 September 2023, read 16 September 2026: the consultation dates and the page's own status line "We are analysing your feedback", which is the whole of step 3.
- Committee of Advertising Practice, CAP Code (Edition 12), Section 18 "Alcohol", https://www.asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_section/18.html, no publication date shown on the page, read 16 September 2026: the alcohol alternatives definition at 0.5% ABV, rule 18.17 on permitted nutrition claims in step 7, rule 18.18 on shared brand names in step 8, rule 18.19 on the prominent ABV statement in step 5, and rules 18.20 and 18.21 in step 6.
- Licensing Act 2003, section 191, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/section/191, no publication date shown on the page, read 16 September 2026: the exclusion of drinks not exceeding 0.5% strength from the meaning of alcohol, in step 9.
- The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2014, SI 2014/2440, Schedule paragraph 2, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2440/made, made 11 September 2014 and in force 1 October 2014, read 16 September 2026: the free potable water condition quoted in step 9.

# no-and-low

## You are given
A stock list of every no and low alcohol drink the venue holds or is considering, each with the product name, producer, the ABV exactly as printed on the container or stated in the supplier specification, the container size, the dispense method and the wholesale cost excluding VAT. The descriptor thresholds, supplied as a table: alcohol free no more than 0.05% ABV, de-alcoholised no more than 0.5% ABV, low alcohol 1.2% ABV or below, and the restriction on non-alcoholic. The venue's current menu and drinks board copy exactly as printed, plus any social posts and tap badge wording that mention these drinks. The rule numbers and rule text for the advertising rules that apply, supplied. The date the alcohol free threshold was last checked against the government page, supplied by Claude. And, once the judgement has been made, the descriptor Claude has assigned to each line and the rewritten copy Claude has approved.

## Produce
Write into a `./no-and-low-output/` folder:

1. `range-sheet.csv` with these columns in this order: `line_no`, `product_name`, `producer`, `abv_percent`, `abv_source`, `container_size`, `dispense_method`, `descriptor_permitted`, `descriptor_assigned`, `descriptor_matches_abv`, `cost_ex_vat_gbp`, `menu_price_gbp`. `abv_source` is exactly one of `container`, `supplier specification`, `not supplied`. `dispense_method` is exactly one of `draught`, `bottle`, `can`, `post-mix`, `made to order`. `descriptor_permitted` and `descriptor_assigned` are each exactly one of `alcohol free`, `de-alcoholised`, `low alcohol`, `non-alcoholic`, `no descriptor permitted`. `descriptor_matches_abv` is `yes` or `no`, and every `no` is listed in `gaps.md`.
2. `copy-check.csv` with columns: `item_no`, `where_it_appears`, `sentence_verbatim`, `trigger`, `rule_cited`, `status`. `where_it_appears` is exactly one of `menu`, `drinks board`, `tap badge`, `table card`, `website`, `social post`. `trigger` is exactly one of `alcohol free used above 0.05% ABV`, `descriptor used with no ABV shown`, `health, fitness or weight claim`, `nutrition claim other than low-alcohol, reduced alcohol or reduced energy`, `disparages sobriety`, `presents the drink as a way to drink more alcohol`, `shared brand name with no reference to the alcohol alternative`, `implies the product is alcoholic`, `no trigger found`. `status` is exactly `kept` or `struck`, and every `struck` row carries a non-empty `rule_cited`.
3. `menu-copy.md` with one block per line in `range-sheet.csv`, each block containing the product name, the assigned descriptor, the ABV written as a number with a percent sign, and the approved copy exactly as Claude supplied it. Nothing in this file is written, shortened or improved by Codex.
4. `draught-wording.csv` with columns: `line_no`, `product_name`, `tap_badge_wording`, `tap_badge_location`, `board_wording`, `board_location`, `menu_wording`, `all_three_present`. One row for every line whose `dispense_method` is `draught`. `all_three_present` is `yes` or `no`, and every `no` goes in `gaps.md`.
5. `threshold-check.md` with exactly four lines: the alcohol free threshold in force as supplied, the date it was last checked, the URL it was checked against, and the status of any open consultation as supplied. Written empty if no check date was supplied, and the fact listed in `gaps.md`.
6. `service-decisions.csv` with columns: `line_no`, `product_name`, `served_to_under_18s_policy`, `glassware`, `garnish`, `looks_alcoholic_when_served`, `allergen_information_held`, `allergen_source_document`. `served_to_under_18s_policy` is exactly one of `yes`, `no`, `not decided`. `looks_alcoholic_when_served` and `allergen_information_held` are `yes` or `no`.
7. `gaps.md` with a numbered list of: every line where `descriptor_matches_abv` is `no`; every line with an `abv_source` of `not supplied`; every draught line missing any of the three wordings; every line with no allergen information held; every line where the under-18 policy is `not decided`; every struck sentence with no rule cited; and the fact if `threshold-check.md` is empty.

## Rules
- Codex checks, compares, records and lists. It never assigns a descriptor itself, never writes or rewrites menu copy, never softens a struck sentence into an acceptable one, and never suggests a replacement claim.
- Never write `alcohol free` into any file against a line whose `abv_percent` exceeds 0.05, whatever the producer's own label says. Where the producer's label says it, record the label wording verbatim in `copy-check.csv` with the trigger `alcohol free used above 0.05% ABV` and list it in `gaps.md`.
- Never write a health, fitness, weight, calorie or wellbeing claim into any file, and never carry one across from supplied copy into `menu-copy.md`.
- Never write a market size, category growth rate, share figure or any statistic about how many customers want these drinks. No such figure exists for one independent venue and none is to appear in any file.
- ABV is recorded exactly as supplied, to the decimal places supplied, and never rounded. 0.5 and 0.05 are different categories and rounding destroys the distinction this whole job turns on.
- Every quoted sentence is copied exactly, including its punctuation, capitalisation and any emoji.
- Never treat a missing allergen document as an absence of allergens. The row records `no` and the line goes in `gaps.md`.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes in any file you write, and any supplied copy containing one is recorded verbatim and flagged in `gaps.md`.
- Every file ends with this line: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own stock and supplier specifications, and for their trading standards officer, licensing officer or solicitor to check before the menu is printed. It applies supplied thresholds and supplied rules to draft wording and is not a ruling that the wording complies.

## Return
The absolute path of each file written, the row count of each CSV, the number of lines in the range and how many fall into each descriptor, every line where the assigned descriptor does not match the ABV, the number of sentences checked and the number struck with the trigger breakdown, the number of draught lines and how many are missing any of the three wordings, the threshold and check date recorded in `threshold-check.md`, every line with no allergen information, and the `gaps.md` item count.