European spirits makers agree to calorie content labels

Suntory Beverage & Food

04/06/2019 11:30

* Calorie content labels expected in EU in December 2019
    * Six large spirits makers among MoU signatories
    * Growing demand for healthier lifestyles 

    By Pascale Denis and Dominique Vidalon
    PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) - Europe's spirits makers announced
plans on Tuesday to list the number of calories and ingredients
in spirit drinks, as businesses and regulators step up efforts
to cater for healthier lifestyles.
    Alcoholic beverages have been exempt from EU labelling rules
that are in force for all other food and drinks.
    The European Commission has, however, called on the sector
to come up with a plan to regulate itself amid general interest
for healthier eating and drinking habits.
    The European consumers organisation BEUC has said that, with
Europe facing an obesity crisis, calorie content labelling for
alcohol was a necessity.
    In March 2018, the sector came up with an initiative to
provide more information about energy content and ingredients
but critics said at the time that if much of the information was
available only online, it was not realistic to expect all
consumers to have access to it.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QU5DN
    Tuesday's initiative goes further.
    Trade body SpiritsEUROPE, which represents national
organisations and multinationals, said on Tuesday it had signed
an MoU in which the spirits sector committed "to provide energy
information on label together with full ingredient listing and
detailed product-specific information online".
    The non-binding agreement does not cover wine or beer.
    The MoU was signed by 31 national organizations and six
spirits makers. The six were Diageo  DGE.L , Pernod Ricard
 PERP.PA , Moet Hennessy  LVMH.PA , Remy Cointreau  RCOP.PA ,
Bacardi-Martini and Beam Suntory  SUNTH.UL  
    Italy's Campari  CPRI.MI , Brown-Forman  BFb.N  and
Edrington, all spiritsEUROPE's members, did not sign the MoU.
    "It's an important commitment, which covers a large part of
the European spirits industry," Christian Porta, President of
spiritsEUROPE and Managing Director, Global Business Development
of Pernod Ricard, told Reuters.
    Labelling should become effective within six months in
December 2019 for all new bottles produced.
    Labels will provide energy values per 100 millilitres, as
for standard drinks, but also per "recommended serving",
something the spirits industry has been keen on because of the
smaller measures used for whisky, gin or vodka.
    The MoU has a timetable calling for one in four bottles
placed on the EU market to include energy information on-label
by the end of 2020. That is then set to rise to 50% and 66% by
the end of 2021 and 2022 respectively. 
    The signatories will work with the Commission to monitor the
impact and effectiveness of the initial framework, with two
meetings planned per year to review progress made.

 (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, editing by Louise Heavens and
David Evans)
 ((dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; Reuters
Messaging: dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net))