INISHOWEN'S senator has
called on the Department of Health to push drinks
companies to print the calorie count of alcoholic
drinks on labels.
Senator Cecilia Keaveney said people had the
right to know the amount of calories they were
consuming with each alcoholic beverage.
“Many people are engaged in the incredibly popular
sport of dieting but while calorie content, salt
levels, saturated and unsaturated fat levels,
protein levels and so forth are all heavily visible
on food packaging, this is not the same when we come
to alcohol," she said.
"Consumers should have the right to know what
calorie content is in their drink and this indeed
may influence their choice and consumption level of
the product.
"There is some evidence of it starting in alcoholic
products but still not enough. Indeed it may be a
great marketing move by the industry.” The
Department of Health told Senator Keaveney they had
put this point forward when asked by the EU for
their thoughts on food labelling.
“The Department of Health and Children responded to
a consultation document of the European Commission
by suggesting that the script on labels on alcohol
products should be of sufficient size to allow for
general readability and be clear so that the
reference to light products would distinguish
between light in calories and light in alcohol;
labels should list ingredients and display calorie
content; and an indication of origin should be
compulsory on all spirits." |
