Diageo to provide nutrition and alcohol content on bottles
Diageo has become the first multi-national alcohol company to provide consumers with nutrition and alcohol content information per typical serve.
The drinks company will provide the information on its packaging and through its responsible drinking website drinkiq.com.
Diageo said the changes will take effect “as soon as practicable” in a majority of its markets “subject to local regulatory approval.”
“Diageo puts the consumer at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to ensuring our consumers have the best possible information from which to make informed choices about our products: this includes alcohol content and nutrition information per typical serve,” said Ivan Menezes, Diageo CEO.
“Currently, there is no obligation to provide such information in markets worldwide, but we know that consumers are increasingly discerning about what’s in their glass. We want to provide alcohol and nutrition information that consumers can quickly understand, instead of expecting them to do the maths.”
Diageo will work with regulators around the world to agree the format on voluntary labels, having already secured approval for voluntary “serving facts” in the US.
In the EU, alcohol drinks are currently exempt from providing nutrition information on labels, but other foodstuffs are required to do so per 100ml. However, Diageo claims this is “misleading” as it “does not reflect the reality of the way drinkers consume alcohol.”
Diageo will work with the EU to establish a standard alcohol unit across the 28 Member States to “provide an effective way of communicating alcohol content to consumers.”
Ian Duncan, MEP for Scotland and Member of the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, said: “Today's announcement from Diageo is a fine example of their commitment to giving consumers the information that they need to make sensible decisions about alcohol.
“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.
“This is a hugely positive step and one that the European Commission should reflect on, as it considers how to tackle harmful drinking”