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Yes, in North Carolina, it is legal for kids under 21 to drink non-alcoholic beer as long as it contains under .5 % alcohol

Under the law in North Carolina, any beverage below .5% alcohol is considered a non-alcoholic beverage.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Would you let your kids drink non-alcoholic beer? Actress Kristen Bell has recently gotten a lot of criticism for saying her kids like non-alcoholic beer. This question has been a talker on social media. Some people are asking if it's even legal.

Kristen Bell explained in a recent interview that she and her husband, Dax Shepard, allow their ten and 8-year-old children to drink non-alcoholic beer. She explained that as Dax is recovering alcoholic, their kids used to try some of his non-alcoholic beer. 

THE QUESTION:

Is it legal for kids under 21 to drink non-alcoholic beer in North Carolina? 

OUR SOURCES:

THE ANSWER: 

This is true.

Yes, in North Carolina, it is legal for kids under 21 to drink non-alcoholic beer as long as it contains under .5% alcohol. 

WHAT WE FOUND: 

Under the law in North Carolina, any beverage below .5% alcohol is considered a non-alcoholic beverage. 

"In North Carolina, it's not considered really any different from a Pepsi or a Coke," Mauney said. 

That means you must be 21 years old if you want to buy a beverage that contains point five percent alcohol or above. Some of the most popular non-alcoholic beers like Oduls, Heineken 0.0, and Athletic Brewing contain less than .5% of alcohol. A store, however, could have its own policy where they don't sell any non-alcoholic beer to anyone under 21. 

"They might say, hey, we are not going to sell these beverages to minors, and they are perfectly fine," Mauney said. 

In several states, however, including South Carolina, you must be over 21 to buy non-alcoholic beer. 

 Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

 VERIFY is dedicated to helping the public distinguish between true and false information. The VERIFY team, with help from questions submitted by the audience, tracks the spread of stories or claims that need clarification or correction. Have something you want VERIFIED? Text us at 704-329-3600 or visit VERIFY.

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