No and Lower (NoLo) Alcohol Wine: First Approach Audit of Labels in Selected Australian Retail Liquor Stores During the COVID-19 Period

Wine labels influence consumer purchasing choices. With no- and lower-alcohol wines increasingly available, and marketing often centering on healthier choices, it is important to consider the information provided on the labels of these products. Therefore, this cross-sectional audit of no- and lower-alcohol wines presents a snapshot representation of earlier emerging data found in three major retail outlets on the Central Coast, NSW, Australia, that were audited for front and back label information (including alcohol content, nutrition, and health messaging). One hundred and eleven unique labels were identified (46 no-alcohol and 65 lower-alcohol wines). Most lower-alcohol wines (72.3%) typically included information on alcohol by volume ABV% on front labels. Narrative wording of alcohol content on front labels was more frequent (81.5%); however, wording with “Lighter in alcohol” was 50%, followed by “Lower alcohol” at 12.3%. No-alcohol wines reported ABV% on less than half of front labels (43.5%), but all front labels included a narrative descriptor of alcohol content. The most common descriptor was “Zero alcohol” (41.3%), followed by “Alcohol free” (23.9%). All no-alcohol wines and 44.6% of the lower-alcohol wines contained nutrition information panels. Almost half the back labels included a diversity of marketing messaging, with overall themes of suggested drinking occasion and/or health-related properties (43.1% lower-alcohol labels: 45.7% no-alcohol labels). These data show a variance in alcohol content labeling, associated descriptors, and presentation of nutritional and other information. This study is important for directing future research on the utility and understanding of these labels.