Calorie labels for alcohol
The Herald reports:
The fashion for large wine glasses has fueled a rise in the number of “invisible” calories people are inadvertently consuming through alcohol, the chair of the Royal Society for Public Health has warned. …
The European Union is considering whether to remove the exemption for alcohol and was due to report back in December, but has so far not ruled on the issue. A recent survey found that 80 per cent of the 2,117 adults questioned did not know the calorie content of common drinks, and most were completely unaware that alcohol contributed to the total calories that they consumed.
Most respondents were in favour of calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks.
The US Food and Drug Administration has mandated calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks from December 2015 in US restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets.
It seems strange to have calorie labelling on food and non alcoholic drinks, but not on alcoholic drinks.
I’m in favour of treating alcoholic drinks the same as non-alcoholic drinks, and mandating they should have calorie information.
For those interested the calorie counts for some common alcohol is:
- half bottle of wine – 350 calories
- Six pack of beer – 900 calories
- hip flask of vodka – 820 calories
- 4 RTDs – 920 calories