European Commission Gives Industry One Year to Propose Labeling Rules for Alcohol

14 Mar 2017 --- The European Commission is calling on industry to put forward a self regulatory proposal rather than enforce regulations on mandatory labeling of ingredients and nutritional information for alcohol. The alcoholic beverage industry now has one year to develop its proposal to provide information on ingredients and nutrition of all alcoholic beverages after the Commission looked at and adopted a report yesterday (13 Mar).

The EU regulation on the provision of food information to consumers became applicable in December 2014 and includes rules on listing ingredients and providing a nutrition declaration; these rules are mandatory for all foods, including alcoholic beverages. 

However, there is an exemption for beverages containing more than 1.2% alcohol per volume. Such information is nevertheless provided by some producers on a voluntary basis and some European countries have adopted or proposed measures for additional labeling requirements for all or certain alcoholic drinks. 

"This report supports the right of people in the European Union to be fully informed about what they drink. Moreover, it does not identify any objective grounds justifying the absence of the list of ingredients and nutrition information on alcoholic beverages. The expansion of voluntary initiatives from the sector has already been ongoing and is brought to the fore in the report,” says Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis. 

This decision has been welcomed by industry. 

In a statement sent to FoodIngredientsFirst by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, chief executive Miles Beale welcomes the Commission’s decision not to force labeling on alcohol at this stage and instead turn to industry to present the most effective way to properly inform consumers.

“The WSTA has offered alcohol calorie information on its website for two years, as have a number of drinks companies and retailers who all took voluntary action to help consumers find out more about their favorite drinks,” he says.

“Trying to cram more information on product labels which have limited space is a backward step. We should not be using 20th Century methods on a 21st Century issue. People who want to know more about what they are drinking are very capable of going online and finding out for themselves.” 

“The alcohol industry has shown they are ahead of the game on nutrition information and have for some time provided consumers with off–label calorific content of drinks.”

Once industry has put forward its proposal, the Commission will assess it and if it considers the self-regulatory approached as unsatisfactory, it would then launch an impact assessment to review further options. 

The Brewers of Europe also welcomes the European Commission’s decision.

“The 100ml reference is laid down in the Regulation for all beverages, non-alcoholic and alcoholic, and widely understood by consumers across the EU as the robust standard for compared the nutritional contents of different drinks,” says Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of The Brewers of Europe. 

“When there are anyway no standard portions for any alcoholic beverage across the EU, a solely portion-based scheme can never replace the 100ml reference.”

“EU law in any case allows companies to add relevant portion size references, provided they are not misleading and are included alongside the 100ml reference.” 

He adds that the by the end of 2017, more than 60 percent of new beer volumes hitting the shelves across Europe will carry this information, on labels and also via online platforms.

“We also encourage other sectors to follow our lead in providing both ingredients and nutrition values according to the rules, as it is clear that consumers can only be empowered to take informed decisions on how different foods and beverages fit within their diet and lifestyle if there is a level playing field of comparable information.”

“The Commission states that it will report back in one year on how alcoholic drinks producers are progressing with the voluntary roll-out of ingredients and nutrition information. This roll-out must be done against the rules as laid down in the EU Regulation. The Brewers of Europe is confident that the head start that we have given ourselves in doing this will stand us in good stead in this timeframe.”

In contrast, director general of The European Consumer Organization, Monique Goyens, doesn’t think a voluntary initiative will work entirely. 
             
“Today consumers can know about what is in a bottle of milk or fruit juice, but not in a bottle of whisky or beer. We’re glad that the Commission recognizes the need to better inform consumers about alcoholic beverages.”

“However, we doubt that voluntary initiatives will bridge the unacceptable information gap between alcoholic and other drinks. Why wait a year to consider binding rules? They are the only way forward if we want all consumers across the EU to be equally informed about what their wine or vodka contains.

“We cannot see any reason why alcoholic beverages should get special treatment. Let’s not forget that a pint of beer is as loaded with calories as a chocolate bar. At a time of rising obesity, mandatory information on nutrients and ingredients is essential to help consumers choose what and how much to drink.”

by Gaynor Selby