EU to vote on calorie content labels for alcohol bottles

Members of the European Parliament are today voting on whether calorie labels should be placed on all alcoholic drinks.

Food and soft drinks have been required to show nutritional information since 2011, but drinks that contain more than 1.2 per cent of alcohol by volume are exempt from the EU regulations.

Glenis Willmott, MEP for the East of England, is among those calling for "honest" labelling.

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"Europe is still the heaviest drinking region in the world but many people don't realise that a large glass of wine contains the same number of calories as a slice of cake," she told the BBC. "In order to reduce the burden of alcohol-related harm, we must make sure people are given clear information to enable them to make informed choices."

Experts say calorie information on wine, beers and spirits would help to fight the nationwide rise in obesity. Some drinks firms have voluntarily committed to providing consumers with nutritional information. For example, Diageo, which produces Smirnoff, J&B and Baileys, publishes the information on its Drink IQ website.

A recent survey by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) found that two-thirds of the public supported the move. The research also showed that most people are unaware of the caloric content of alcoholic drinks.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of RSPH, said that for "too long" consumers had been denied access to the nutritional and calorie information of alcoholic drinks.

"How can we expect people to make informed decisions about their health and what they're consuming if the information needed is withheld from them?" she asked. "We remain optimistic that European politicians will put the interests of the public's health before those of industry and introduce a measure which will enable more informed choice."

In the RSPH survey of 2,000 people, the organisation discovered that more than 80 per cent of respondents did not know or dramatically underestimated the caloric content of wine. Ninety per cent said they did not know how many calories were in a pint of lager.

One unit of alcohol contains just 56 calories, but many drinks are augmented with sugar. One unit of an alcopop, such as a Bacardi Breezer or Smirnoff Ice, can contain more than 150 calories, while a unit of four per cent beer can contain around 80 calories, the RSPH said.

The average adult in the UK receives approximately ten per cent of their daily calorie intake from alcohol, The Independent says. Two thirds of adults in the UK are now classed as either overweight or obese.

Elaine Hindal, chief executive at the alcohol education charity Drinkaware, said that she supported the plan to label alcohol with calorie information: "A lack of awareness of the calorie content of alcohol, and the fact that alcohol contains almost as many calories as pure fat, can inadvertently hamper people's efforts to lose weight and stay in shape," she said. "This highlights the importance of helping people realise just how many calories are in their glass, so they can make an informed choice about how much they drink."

Statistics in graphic from Drinkaware, BBC and Nutracheck