What's the difference between alcohol-free, de-alcoholised and low alcohol?

These are three separate, regulated UK labelling terms, ranked by ABV:

• Alcohol-free: 0.05% ABV or below
• De-alcoholised: 0.5% ABV or below
• Low alcohol: 1.2% ABV or below

The gap between "alcohol-free" and "de-alcoholised" matters more than it looks. A 0.5% de-alcoholised beer has ten times the alcohol content of a 0.05% alcohol-free one - still nowhere near enough to get you drunk, but a real difference if you are being strict about avoiding alcohol entirely.

There is also a legal quirk worth knowing: under the Licensing Act 2003, drinks at 0.5% ABV or below are not classed as "alcohol" at all for licensing purposes. That is why supermarkets can sell de-alcoholised beer without an age check or licence, even though it technically contains a trace of alcohol. Government has separately consulted on raising the "alcohol-free" threshold itself to 0.5% to match, so keep an eye on the label wording rather than assuming it will always mean the same thing.