EU set to vote on alcohol calorie labels

The European Parliament will vote today on whether labels displaying calorie information should be compulsory on all alcoholic beverages.

The EU will vote today on whether alcohol calorie labelling should be compulsory

Currently, alcohol with an abv above 1.2% is exempt from EU regulation on nutritional labelling implemented in 2011, which covers all food and soft drinks.

Health experts have long-argued that calorie information is a necessity on alcoholic drinks in order to tackle obesity problems.

A recent survey revealed 80% of 2,117 adults questioned did not know how many calories were in common drinks, and the majority were also unaware that alcohol contributed to the total calories they consumed.

Glenis Wilmott, MEP for the East of England, is in favour of introducing mandatory alcohol labelling, reports the BBC.

“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 amount of calories as a slice of cake,” she said.

“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.”

Last year a group of EU ambassadors, MEPs and producers argued increasing alcohol labelling an excise tax would not tackle health issues.

Meanwhile, a European Parliament committee member recently slammed the EU’s delay on introducing labelling measures as “unacceptable”.

In March this year, Diageo became the first multi-national drinks firm to voluntarily pledge to provide consumers with alcohol nutrition information per typical serve.