A majority of American consumers want nutritional transparency in alcoholic beverages, according to a 2021 report from the consultancy Quadrant Strategies, released today by the national trade group the Beer Institute (BI).
Of the 1,500 Americans 21 years and older surveyed from July 5 to July 6, 75% said they believed alcohol beverages should have nutrition labels, and 60% said they would be more likely to purchase an alcoholic beverage if it provided related information.
“Americans want to be better informed about the alcohol they consume, particularly around nutritional labeling and alcohol content,” Max Steinhorn, senior consultant for Quadrant Strategies, said in a press release. “That’s why Americans overwhelmingly support the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative and see it as a way to encourage responsible consumption of alcohol beverages. It’s also why they’re urging the wine and liquor industries to follow the beer industry’s lead and be more transparent with key information about alcohol beverages.”
More than three quarters of those surveyed (77%) said they support wine and liquor companies providing national information, while nearly as many (72%) said the practice encourages responsible alcohol consumption.
Nutritional labels and full ingredient lists are currently optional for alcoholic beverages, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), unlike most food and beverages which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Additionally, 78% of respondents said they supported the “Brewers Voluntary Disclosure Initiative” — a program launched by the BI in 2016 in which beer industry leaders committed to providing voluntary nutritional information, freshness dating, alcohol by volume (ABV) and ingredients for their beer by the end of 2020.
As part of the initiative, the BI announced today that 95% of beer volume sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Constellation Brands, Heineken USA, and FIFCO USA now comes with nutritional information, according to an independent analysis by John Dunham and Associates.
The firm conducted a pass/fail audit in which companies had to meet all initiative requirements, including:
- Calorie, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and ABV (or ABW as required by state law) information on all labels in the form of a serving facts statement consistent with TTB’s voluntary guidelines.
- Ingredients on either the label or secondary packaging via a list of ingredients, a reference to a website with the information, or a QR code.
- A freshness date or date of production on all labels or primary containers.
- Restaurants can utilize these labels to comply with federal menu labeling requirements.
“The Beer Institute’s Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative is just another example of how beer industry leaders are meeting the needs of consumers,” Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute, said in a release. “Consumers can now get nutritional disclosures for the overwhelming majority of beer in the United States, unlike liquor and wine, which do not even come close to providing consumers with this level of information.”