Availability of alcohol content, calorie, nutrition, and ingredient information on labels of alcoholic beverages sold in the United States in 2021
Eva Greenthal, Sarah Sorscher, Aviva MusicusAbstract
Objective:
To assess the prevalence and formatting of voluntary alcohol, nutrition, and ingredient information on the labels of alcoholic beverages sold in the U.S. in 2021.
Design:
We assessed labels from the top 150 beer, spirits, and wine brands from 2021. Primary outcomes were presence of: 1) Statement of Average Analysis (SAA; includes calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein); 2) Serving Facts (SAA plus serving size, servings per container, alcohol content); and 3) ingredients lists. We also assessed prevalence of nutrition- and ingredient-related claims. Attributes were considered present for a brand if they appeared on the label of at least one product from that brand. We used Fisher’s exact tests to assess associations between primary outcomes and beverage characteristics.
Setting:
Labels were from a government-run label approval database.
Participants:
Unit of analysis was brands.
Results:
The analysis included 925 labels from 65 beer, 93 spirits, 101 wine brands. Forty-one beer brands (63%), 24 spirits brands (26%), and 2 wine brands (2%) had SAAs. Eighteen beer brands (28%), 11 spirits brands (12%), and no wine brands had Serving Facts statements. Eleven beer brands (17%), but no spirits or wine brands, had ingredients lists. Presence of SAA was positively associated with having calorie or carbohydrate claims (beer and spirits), larger market share (beer only), and being a member of the beer industry’s Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (beer only) (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
Low uptake of voluntary nutrition and ingredient information by top beer, spirits, and wine brands suggests the need for mandatory standardized labels.