You certainly don't find much alcohol in cereal these days.

I think food in general has been doing this for a long time. Over time companies are switching out more expensive ingredients for cheaper ones that are close enough and as a result over time, food tastes different. It is part of the reason why many people try and avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. It is much cheaper than sugar, and certainly changes the flavor of the things it is in compared to regular sugar.

What's more worrying I wonder, preferring one strong beer because it's fewer overall calories per session, or wanting multiple low strength ones so you can do more drinking? I can't quite tell honestly

As someone who works in that industry, the reason that has been communicated to us is that they‘re testing the markets and demographics and so on and the results all say younger generations like to drink alcohol less, so there is a pivot to non-alcoholic drinks.

Cause I dislike spreading rumours without something to back it up I went and searched a source which confirms that: https://www.kantar.com/north-america/inspiration/consumer/why-young-adults-are-turning-to-low-no-alcohol-drinks#:~:text=A%202018%20Berenberg%20Research%20report,Boomers%20did%20at%20their%20age.