The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) today asked the government to ban an alcoholic beverage sold as a fruit-flavoured soft drink.

Its president SM Mohamed Idris said the drink had an alcohol content of 5.5 percent and was sold widely in supermarkets and 24-hour convenience stores.

The drink, sold in colourful bottles and cans to attract the young, could be bought freely by youngsters and children, he told a news conference in Georgetown.

He said the information on the alcohol content was in small print and almost illegible, which made consumers think it was a fruit-flavoured soft drink.

Mohamed Idris said the government should consider the matter seriously as it was prohibited to sell alcoholic beverages to people under 18.

Idris said CAP had received complaints from many parents who lamented that their children were beginning to take a liking for the drink.

"They fear that their children may become alcoholics by consuming the drink," he said.

- Bernama