“Alcohol labeling fails consumers” by not displaying health and nutritional information

15 Jun 2022 --- The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) is calling on the British government to legally mandate alcohol companies to display health warnings, ingredients, calories, sugar contents and other important nutritional information.

Following the current UK law, drinks with alcohol only display volume, strength and common allergens.

“Alcohol’s continued exemption to the rules and standards followed by the rest of the food and drinks industry is detrimental to our health,” says professor Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance.

“Alcohol increases our risk of 200 health conditions. Like obesity, it is a major cause of diabetes, stroke, cancer and high blood pressure. Despite this, millions of us are completely unaware of the government’s low-risk drinking guidelines, making us unable to make informed choices about our drinking,” adds Dr. Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK.

The findings by the AHA highlight that only 5% of products displayed full nutritional information, 6% of products showed sugar content and 41% the calories on the drinks.

Regarding health labels, only one of every 33 products analyzed included a general health warning. A total of 10% of the daily calorie intake of British adults comes from alcohol, the study flags.

The study flags that only 6% of products showed sugar content and 41% calories.Absurd exceptions
Following the UK regulations, alcoholic beverages that contain 1.2% of alcohol by volume do not need calorie counts. These beverages are also exempt from the UK sugar levy, which might be due to a long history of government lobbying. 

The UK beverage association Action on Sugar also considers the amount of sugar in some spirits “outrageous,” regarding the exceptions on sugar labeling for alcoholic drinks as “absurd.”

“Alcohol is not only a risk factor for cancer, but it’s fueling obesity – with some alcoholic drinks containing more calories than a Mars bar and others containing more than double your recommended daily sugar intake. Given the choice, most alcohol producers are leaving this vital information off the labels, keeping consumers in the dark about what’s in the products they are drinking,” explains Gilmore.

Informed consumers, informed choices
The study flags that previous research has shown that consumers exposed to health warnings are three times more aware of drinking guidelines and are likely to know the links between alcohol and cancer.

Alcohol drinkers are more likely to perceive the products as “unappealing” if they display prominent health warnings.

Health warnings might counteract the ubiquitous presence of alcohol in TV, as a study found that 98% of TV episodes analyzed had alcohol depictions. 

The AHA warns that self-regulation has failed, with the UK not accomplishing its commitment to hold a consultation on whether to include calorie information on alcohol labels. The organization says that the consultation “is yet to be published two years later.”

“The alcohol industry itself has proved utterly incapable of providing this information voluntarily. The government must now step in and publish its planned consultation on alcohol labeling without further delay, and urgently act to place the regulation of alcohol labeling under democratic control,” underscores Piper.10% of the daily calorie intake of British adults comes from alcohol.

Methodology of the study
The AHA examined 369 alcohol product labels across the UK. The study was carried out in large and small supermarkets and included: beer, cider, red wine, white wine, sparkling wine/prosecco, ready-to-drink beverages (RTDs), spirits and liqueurs.

The data assessed if products contain:

• Up-to-date UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines
• Outdated or foreign drinking guidelines
• General health warning
• Specific cancer warning
• Full list of ingredients
• Full nutritional information
• Calorie information
• Sugar content
• Unit information
• Warnings about pregnancy, drink-driving and age
• Signposting to drinkaware

By Marc Cervera