The hidden sugar menace in our fave festive tipples

HEALTH campaigners have called on the Government to end the “scandalous” lack of sugar and calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks.

Anti-obesity campaigners want to force “irresponsible” manufacturers to include full nutritional information on all alcoholic drinks to help consumers make wiser choices over the festive season and beyond.

The Sunday Express has seen hundreds of examples of supermarkets selling high-sugar pre-mixed alcoholic drinks without any nutritional information.

We found one mixed drink contained five teaspoons of sugar – and some ciders have a whopping 13.

Experts fear drinkers are increasingly unaware of the high levels of sugar in some ready-mixed drinks and want the Government to “end the outrage” and make labelling mandatory.

Tesco and Morrisons are the only major supermarkets currently listing the sugar content on a handful of alcoholic drinks But apart from alcohol content, required by law, the majority lack basic nutritional information.

We discovered a £1.80 200ml can of Baileys Iced Coffee Latte contained nearly 7oz (19.8g) of sugar – almost five teaspoons and two-thirds of an adult’s daily recommended limit.

A 250ml can of Tesco Vodka Cranberry on sale for £1 had 15.4g of sugar – nearly four teaspoons.

At Morrisons, a Gordon’s Pink Gin & Tonic for £1.95 contained 8.7g, more than two teaspoons, of sugar in a 250ml serving.

Hundreds of other pre-mixed drinks containing alcoholic spirits like whisky, gin, vodka, alcopops and fruit ciders are being sold with no accompanying guidance except alcohol-by-volume percentage.

Further research by this newspaper uncovered worrying levels of calories and sugar in several popular fruit cider brands – all sold without any nutritional information, either online or on the packaging. A standard 500ml bottle of strawberry or kiwi flavoured Kopparberg cider contains 53g of sugar – nearly 13 teaspoons – and 330 calories. The daily recommended sugar limit for an adult is 30g.

And a 500ml Rekorderlig Strawberry Lime Cider contains more than 12 teaspoons of sugar – 48g.

Last night, diet experts and health campaigners demanded that the Government makes rapid changes so consumers can be better educated on their drinking choices. Clare Thornton-Wood of the British Dietetic Association said: “It’s hard for consumers to get nutritional information on alcoholic drinks as there is currently no legal obligation to include this on the label or online shopping sites.”

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said: “It is outrageous that there is no legal obligation on the alcohol industry to list nutritional information on its products.

“Foodstuffs must display all their ingredients by law and though some foods may be considered addictive, alcohol invariably is, and should be no exception to the rule.

“Unfortunately there are millions of drinkers quite unaware of the levels of sugar they consume and brewers and bottlers are corporately irresponsible for declining to tell them voluntarily.

“Worse still, over the festive weeks ahead, that quantity of sugar may double or even treble for many and inevitably leave them with long-term health consequences.” Nutritionist and researcher Kawther