Baby beer bottles banned in New Hampshire

A US governor has banned beer bottles featuring images of children from being sold in New Hampshire, over concerns it could undermine efforts to fight underage drinking.

Founder’s Breakfast Stout

Democratic governor Maggie Hassan vetoed a measure on Tuesday that would have allowed some some images of minors to adorn the labels of alcoholic beverages, provided they were not deemed to encourage young people to drink.

As reported by NY Daily News, Murphy’s bill was tabled by Republican state representative Keith Murphy, who sponsored the bill because of his fondness for Founders Brewery Co’s Breakfast Stout, which features a chubby baby on its label.

The federal government already prohibits alcohol labelling or advertising that targets minors, however this bill would have given the New Hampshire Liquor Commission the discretion to approve or deny beverage labels.

Smuttynose’s Baltic Porter

However Hassan had no time for the bill, vetoing it and arguing that allowing images of children to be printed on alcohol labels would undermine the state’s efforts to tackle underage drinking.

“Substance misuse, including alcohol misuse, continues to be one of the major public health and safety challenges facing us as a state,” Hassan said. “Moreover, statistics suggest that New Hampshire has among the highest rates of underage drinking in the country.”

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Founder’s Brewery is allowed to sell the beer in neighbouring Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, but not in New Hampshire. Murphy called the veto an “overreach”, noting that Smuttynose Baltic Porter would have to come off the shelves because its label shows “Father Time” with a cherubic baby.

Speaking of Founder’s Beer, Murphy said: “No reasonable person would believe that this label is intended to appeal to minors in any way.”