A Japanese soft drink bottled and made to look like beer, may soon be available throughout Europe, but watchdogs of underage drinking say they will fight any effort to ship it to the United States, reports The New York Times.

Kidsbeer is lager-colored and foams like beer, but tastes like cola. It comes in a brown bottle and is advertised with the slogan "Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink,"

Introduced two years ago, it is sold by more than 150 restaurants and supermarkets in Japan, according to manufacturer Tomomasu. Beer is widely available in vending machines in Japan, where the legal drinking age is 20.

An article in London's The Sunday Telegraph about plans to introduce Kidsbeer to Europe, caused a fuss among alcohol industry critics and government officials.

Tim Loughton, a member of Parliament, tells The Telegraph that the drink's expected arrival was "an alarming development." Neither a British soft drink association nor an alcohol watchdog group could confirm that Kidsbeer was in Britain.

Amon Rappaport, a spokesman for the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog based in California, says Kidsbeer would "unwittingly play into the alcohol industry's efforts to glamorize drinking and introduce kids to beer."