Cooking & EatingDuring the holidays, alcohol often flows freely. But what is actually in such a liqueur, a glass of wine or bubbles? On the bottle you will often find a nice story about the origin and taste. But consumers are mostly in the dark when it comes to ingredients and nutritional values. The Consumers’ Association argues in favor of mandatory alcohol labeling.
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Information on the content of foods and drinks is required by law for drinks with less than 1.2 percent alcohol. The fact that red wine quickly contains a lump of sugar per glass, and that a glass of Baileys contains more than two sugar cubes and about 4 grams of saturated fat, is something you will never find on the bottle. Because alcohol manufacturers are not clear about their products, it is difficult for consumers to compare different types, according to the Consumers’ Association, which thinks it is high time to adjust this.
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The content of calories, sugar and sometimes saturated fat is often on the high side with alcohol, can be read in the new edition of the Consumptionngids of the Consumers’ Association. Alcohol itself already contains 7 kilocalories per gram. That is between sugar (with 4 kilocalories per gram) and fat (9 kilocalories per gram). A glass of wine quickly contains 80 to 125 calories, a glass of Baileys even about 150 calories: just as much as a Lion bar or a brown cheese sandwich.
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We put QR codes on our new bottles that refer to an ingredient declaration
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Wine producers like to make you believe that their customers are drinking a pure and natural wine. They often prefer not to disclose the additives associated with wine (such as sugar and other technological aids to, for example, make a less good wine tastier or to be able to guarantee the quality), writes the Consumers’ Association.
“People often have a romanticized image of how wine is made,” adds wine journalist Esmee Langereis. “Just like in foods, additives are used, but not everyone is aware of this. A laundry list of additives on the back of the wine bottle could deter consumers.”
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Alcohol percentage and allergens are mandatory
What you will always find on a bottle of alcoholic drink is the alcohol percentage and the most common allergens, such as sulfites. This can be naturally present in white wine, but it can also be added to increase the shelf life.
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Beer is an exception: drinkers will often find an ingredients list and nutritional values on the packaging. The whiskey liqueur manufacturer Baileys states the use of excipients on the bottle, but this information is only available in German and Danish. Nutritional information, such as fat and sugar content, is again not listed.
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Three types of sugar are used in Van Hooghoudt jenever: honey, glucose-fructose syrup and sugar. The label only mentions ‘subtle notes of juniper and honey’, according to the Consumers’ Association. “It’s not that we don’t want it, but we are not legally obliged to put the ingredients on it,” said a spokesperson for Van Hooghoudt. “We put QR codes on our new bottles that refer to an ingredient declaration. We choose to put text on the label in which we name the different ingredients and we explain the story of the product there.”
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Transparency is important
The European consumer organization Beuc also advocates full information on the label and the European Commission wants this to be mandatory. Information on the nutritional value and composition of alcoholic beverages is now usually only available online. “The European Commission wants alcoholic drinks to contain ingredients, nutritional values and a health warning by 2023 at the latest,” writes food safety expert Wieke van der Vossen of the Nutrition Center in a statement. column. “A good thing as far as I’m concerned!”
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“Transparency is crucial”, Langereis also believes. “For starters, there should be an ingredients list on the label. Knowing what’s in your wine will help you decide whether or not to buy it. Good information must be provided, because additives are not necessarily bad. We can then determine what a wine is worth to us on the basis of taste, emotion and knowledge about where, how, by whom and with what it was made.”
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