Victorian-style British lemonade runs into trouble in USA because of alcohol content

LONDON - A century-old British lemonade has run into trouble in the U.S. because a high school student complained that the company's Victorian-style drink contains alcohol.

The complaint prompted high school officials in Maine to contact the police, who are seeking a legal opinion from the Maine attorney general about whether the lemonade can be sold to minors.

The flap has caused a stir at Fentimans, a small specialty brewing company in northern England that finds its lemonade under fire.

Operations director Tiffany McKirdy says the lemonade is legally classified as a soft drink because its alcohol content is below 0.5 per cent.

She says someone would have to drink about 28 bottles of the lemonade to match the alcohol content in a can of beer.