Alcohol awareness organisations have called for more information to be put on drink labels (PA)
Alcoholic drinks should have their calorie content on the label, health campaigners say.
The Alcohol Health Alliance and the Alcohol Focus Scotland charity are calling for changes to labelling laws so the calories in drinks are clearly shown.
It follows a YouGov poll that found only a quarter of people surveyed correctly estimated there are between 120 and 359 calories in a pint of lager, while 22% knew there are 67-200 calories in a medium glass of wine.
The law currently requires alcoholic products to show the strength of alcohol (ABV), the volume of the drink and any allergens contained in them. Ingredients, nutritional information and health risks are all optional.
Current laws only require firms to show the strength of alcohol, allergens and the container’s volume. Any other information, such as ingredients and calorie content is optional – setting it apart from the food and soft drinks industries. Campaigners believe this is wrong for a product that causes 10 deaths every day in Scotland.
READ MORE: New research carried out for Alcohol Focus Scotland found that just 23 per cent of Scots were aware of the recommended, maximum number of alcohol units (14) while only a quarter knew how many calories were in the average pint of beer. It is unacceptable that a product linked to 10 deaths a day in Scotland continues to be exempt from laws
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