European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) welcomes the initiative from the Brewers of Europe to provide ingredients and nutritional information for their products. Eurocare has been calling for this since 2008.
"It is really good news and about time! Consumers have had the right to know what they eat and drink since 2011 - however alcohol was unfortunately exempted. In this respect the step taken today by the beer industry is welcomed. We are all still awaiting the European Commission report that it was obliged to produce on alcohol labelling by December last year. We continue to call on the European Commission to produce the required report and bring alcohol packaging consistently across all brands" said Mariann Skar, Secretary General, European Alcohol Policy Alliance.
In 2011 the European institutions passed legislation that requires food and soft drinks, including fruit juice and milk, to label nutritional information and ingredients. However, alcoholic beverages were exempted from this obligation. Currently, when a consumer drinks alcohol it is highly unlikely that they know exactly what they are drinking, unless they are determined enough to search on the company's website.
Finally, the situation seems to be improving due to the actions taken by some economic operators. Today Brewers of Europe have announced their commitment towards voluntary labelling to list ingredients and nutrition information on their brands per 100ml. The information will progressively be provided across Europe by companies on pack and/or online, utilising an expanding range of consumer communication platforms.
European Alcohol Policy Alliance is looking forward to seeing the ingredients and nutritional labels on alcohol bottles across Europe.
The Brewers of Europe press release can be viewed here.