Overview
- The Court of Justice of the EU ruled that beverages without alcohol cannot be presented or labeled as gin, including terms such as “non‑alcoholic gin.”
- EU law defines gin as a juniper‑flavoured spirit produced from ethyl alcohol with a minimum alcoholic strength of 37.5% by volume.
- The case arose from a complaint by German unfair‑competition group VSW over PB VI Goods’ product marketed as “Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei.”
- The court said the product may still be sold provided its name does not include the word “gin.”
- The binding interpretation applies across EU member states and could influence branding in the growing alcohol‑free and plant‑based sectors, echoing prior EU limits on dairy terms for non‑dairy foods.