European Parliament plenary urged to protect the health of consumers through clear alcohol labelling

On Tuesday, 16th March the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety voted on the EC Proposed regulation on the provision on food information to consumers.

No nutritional declaration for alcoholic beverages

MEPs voted to exclude alcoholic beveragres from the mandatory nutritional declaration requirement (Article 29).

Eurocare is disappointed that the EU Parliament Committee rejected an obligation to tell consumers what ingredients or the amount of calories or carbohydrates that are in alcoholic beverages.

Eurocare hopes that the EP plenary will overturn this decision when it votes in May and calls on the European Parliament to prioritise the health needs of European citizens.

Commenting on the result of the vote Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare says “Why are manufacturers so afraid of telling people what's in their beverages? We believe it is the right of consumers to be aware of what they drink and to be able to make healthy choices. All alcoholic beverages should be required to state on their labels: their ingredients, any substances with allergenic effect, relevant nutrition information (e.g. energy value), and alcoholic strength, as well as include a health / safety warning. Such information would in our opinion enable consumers to make informed choices about their alcohol consumption".

Commenting, Linda McAvan (S&D, UK) says: “the labelling of other products currently leaves consumers in the dark. Alcohol often contains a large number of calories, yet the provision of such information is rarely given”.

Background information:

The committee report, drafted by Renate Sommer (EPP, DE), was approved with 52 votes in favour, 2 against and 5 abstentions, after MEPs had voted on almost 800 amendments.

The committee had debated the issue for 18 months. The draft legislation aims to modernise, simplify and clarify food labelling within the European Union. It would make minor changes to existing rules on information that is compulsory on all labels.

Next steps:

Parliament's first reading in plenary session is planned for the end of May.

The Council will then have to adopt its position, before the proposal is again debated in the Environment Committee.