Heavy drinking MEP proposes EU regulation to tighten up beer, wine and spirits labelling

Booze Boo cans and bottles will have to carry a calorie count under unde laws being proposed by a ScoScottish MEP.

Labour’s Lab Catherine Stihler, vicechairwoman chairw of the European Parliament’s consumer consu protection committee, wants to force wine, beer and spirits producers to display displ the nutritional information. If introduced, the regulations would bring brin alcohol into line with labelling now on tthe vast majority of food and drink. nk. Stihler S said: “Regardless of whether er they the are buying an orange juice or wine, wi shoppers deserve to have nutritional nu information available to them which allows them to makem informed choices. “Great steps forward have been taken ta regarding food products but t there the has not been the same levell of progress progr when it comes to alcohol. “Th The risks of liver damage from alcoholhl are a widely known but many alcoholic products p contain large numbers of calories, whichwisl es swell known. An enforced labelling l system would be more transparent .” She added: “Unfortunately, Britain’s ability a to influence issues such as this will be b jeopardised by Theresa May’s reckless Brexit B plans.” If introduced, the Europe-wide rules being b proposed could see a “traffic-light” system s adopted to explain calorific value. There are 152 calories in a can of Tennent’s Lager L and 496 in a bottle of Prosecco. By comparison, ca Big Mac contains 540 calories and a a Snickers bar 215. Stihler has signed a letter penned by MEPs from f across Europe to Vytenis Andriukaitis, the t commissioner responsible for health and a food safety. They argue self-regulation has h not worked and EU action is required. The letter states: “We urge you and your colleagues c to address the issues and align requirements r for alcoholic beverages with those t for other food and drinks producers. “The current situation created disparities d in the internal market, where a milk producer has a higher administrative admin burden than a vodka producer. produ “We believe that the EU should allow a levelevel playing field for all economic operatorsopera and not favour producers of one category c of goods… Unfortunately, the alcohola industry’s self-regulatory proposalprop for alcohol labelling has proproven a disappointment.” A spokesman for the Portman GrGroup, the UK alcohol watchdog, said: “MMany producers already feature c al or iie and nutritional informatinfo ion on packs voluntarilyvolu and we actively encourageen producers to signpostsig consumers to the DrinkawareDr website on theirthe labelling where they can get up to date health and caloriec information and guidanguidance.”