EU Parliament backs mandatory calorie labelling proposal

By Erin Smith

Published: 30 April, 2015

Yesterday members of the European Parliament voted to table a proposal that by the end of 2016 all alcoholic drinks have calorie content labels.

Alcoholic beverages with a 1.2% alcohol by volume or higher were exempt from the 2011 law that European Union passed requiring all food and drinks have nutritional information, including calories, on their labels. Despite the support from the EU for calorie labelling on beer, wine and spirits it could take months or even years for a mandatory law to come into effect. It is the first step however in the Parliamentary process to be considered law.

Last month drinks giant Diageo announced it would provide on-pack calorie information on typical serves across its beer, wine and spirits ranges ahead of any legal requirements to do so. Although the move is subject to local regulatory approval, once in effect it will be the first drinks company to provide this type of nutritional information on its alcohol products.

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, commended the move, saying it was a positive sign the industry was committed to improving customer awareness and also providing a practical solution for alcohol labelling. Currently, drinks are exempted from nutrition labelling in EU legislation, which demands that food provide nutrition guidance per 100ml serving. While some have called for this exemption to be removed, Beale told harpers.co.uk that the simple removal of drinks from the labelling exception was not enough and a clearer definition that quantifies a typical serve across the 28-member EU would also be needed.

Beale said: "While many simply want to see the exemption for alcohol from labelling requirements removed, this will not provide an answer that is universally acceptable. It is important that industry works to find the best way to provide meaningful information to consumers and Diageo's work is a welcome contribution to that."

Ian Duncan, MEP for Scotland and Member of the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, also applauded Diageo's efforts last month and agreed that without uniformity and clarity around what constitutes a 'serving' across the EU, calorie labelling could be confusing for consumers.

He said: "Providing both the nutrition and alcohol content of alcohol drinks, in an easy to understand 'per serving' format, is a major improvement on the confusing current system, where there are different measurements of alcohol units across the EU."

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