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Why more and more Norwegians are drinking alcohol-free beer

10.6 million litres of non-alcoholic beer were sold in Norway in 2019, a new record for the Scandinavian country.

Published: 17 February 2020 15:58 CET
Why more and more Norwegians are drinking alcohol-free beer
File photo: AFP

The figure, which applies to country’s the entire beverage industry, was reported by news bureau NTB on Monday.

Increasing popularity of non-alcoholic beer is linked to a wider selection and improving quality of products, according to Henrik Lund, marketing manager for alcohol-free beer Ringnes, a major Norwegian brewery.

“The good taste experience and the high quality of the brewery means that alcohol-free beer is no longer seen as a substitute for beer with alcohol,” Lund told NTB.

While 2019 was a record year for non-alcoholic beer, 2020 has begun by setting an unprecedented pace for sales of the product.

During the first three weeks of January, sales of non-alcoholic beer increased by as much as 10 percent compared to 2019.

Increasing awareness regarding fitness and health, making more people consider their alcohol intake, is helping to boost the sector, Lund said.

“We believe (the January figures are) primarily due to a stronger focus on health and fitness in January,” he told NTB.

“This is due not only to a desire to reduce alcohol consumption after Christmas and New Year's celebrations, but also the fact that beer without alcohol contains far fewer calories than soda or beer with alcohol,” he added.

READ ALSO: Fylleangst: Norwegian drinking culture's special term

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HEALTH

When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

General Practitioners in Denmark have the right to break off a patient-doctor relationship in specific circumstances.

Published: 1 August 2024 16:35 CEST
When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

Although doctors in Denmark have the right to decide not to continue treating a patient – requiring them to find a new GP – the circumstances in which this can happen are limited, and must be approved by health authorities.

The frequency in which the circumstances arise is also low. A doctor decided to no longer receive a patient on 375 occasions in 2016, according to the medical professionals’ journal Ugeskrift for Læger. The following year, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported the figure at 458.

There are two main categories of circumstances in which a doctor can choose to take this step. The first is in instances of violent or threatening behaviour from the patient towards the doctor. 

The second (and most common) is when the doctor considers the relationship to have deteriorated to the extent that confidence has broken down, according to Ugeskrift for Læger.

It should be noted that patients are not bound by any restrictions in this regard, and can decide to change their GP without having to give any justification.

A patient also has the right to appeal against a doctor’s decision to ask them to find a new GP. This is done by appealing to the local health authority, called a Region in the Danish health system.

In such cases, a board at the regional health authority will assess the claim and if it finds in favour of the patient may order the doctor to attempt to repair the relationship.

Doctors cannot end a relationship with a patient purely because a patient has made a complaint about them to health authorities. This is because patients should have the option of making complaints without fear of consequences for their future treatment. 

However, if this is accompanied by the conclusion on the doctor’s part that there is no longer confidence in them on the part of the patient, they can remove the patient from their list.

The right to no longer see patients in the circumstances detailed above is provided by doctors’ collective bargaining agreements, the working conditions agreed on between trade unions and employer confederations under the Danish labour market system.

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