South Africa is one of the top five African nations notorious for alcohol consumption, along with Tanzania, Swaziland, Burkina Faso, and Uganda.
The over-consumption of alcohol has numerous consequences such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and digestive problems.
These problems can be remedied by alcohol that gives the same effects but without hangovers and subsequent illnesses. This is what London-based GABA Labs is claiming to be doing.
GABA Labs is actively developing Alcarelle, a form of synthetic alcohol that is meant to deliver all of the pleasant benefits of alcohol intake but minus the adverse effects.
“With roots in advanced molecular and neuroscience research, our company is committed to delivering breakthrough ingredients that will revolutionise the spirits market as we know it today,” said the company’s managing director.
“We are ready to bring much needed innovation to the adult social drinking beverage industry.”
According to the business the unique drink will enter regulatory and safety testing phases but its developers are hoping to go to market with the approved product by 2025.
Alcarelle is classified as a biomimetic molecule since it is synthetic and mimics the behaviours of a natural substance while being odourless, tasteless, and colourless.
Drinks companies will employ it to create a new generation of adult beverages. They will decide on the flavour, texture, and colours based on what the consumer market wants.
On its website, the company reiterated that, “Our goal is to create ingredients that are better than alcohol and certainly not addictive – this is a crucial piece of the science that we’re working on.
“The rigorous internal and formal testing processes we have to go through are designed to identify if there is potential for addiction. Any version of our product which did not pass these tests would be abandoned. At which point we would continue in our quest to develop the right products to meet our goal.”
IOL