Two men have been charged with distributing a bootleg beverage to stores around New Jersey. Authorities are giving shop owners ten days to pull them off the shelves.

It’s called “extracto de malta” and has about as much alcohol as light beer.

Authorities say it’s being sold in thousands of unlicensed bodegas and other small shops in cities like Newark and North Bergen.

Michael Halfacre is head of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.  He says the drink could be confused with “malta,” a non-alcoholic soft drink popular with a lot of Hispanics.

“We’re concerned mainly for it getting into the hands of children, those under the age of 21 and we’re concerned for unsuspecting members of the public who believe they’re picking up a bottle of malta and they’re drinking it then they’re operating cars, motorvehicles heavy equipment, whatever.”

Halfacre is giving store owners until September 1st to pull the bottles and destroy them. Otherwise, he says they could face fines of up to a thousand dollars… and anywhere from 30 days to three years in jail.