Half of drinks producers already have calorie labelling, report finds

The UK market has achieved “near universal levels of adherence” to the Portman Group’s voluntary health labelling guidelines, a new review of alcohol labelling has suggested.

According to the study, which is one of the largest of its kind and sampled 500 alcohol products from UK producers, it found that there was “robust” voluntary commitment from the drinks sector to providing public health information.

It discovered that more than 99% of labels now carry a pregnancy warning logo or message and 96% also carried alcohol unit content information, which was up 2% from a similar review in 2021.

In addition, it also found that 92% carry a reference to Drinkaware or other responsibility messaging.

CMO

Among the findings, it was also found that 86% carry the government’s UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) guidelines not to drink more than 14 units per week, which was up significantly from 79% in the previous review.

Also, nearly three-quarters of labels (74%) use a box to “explicitly separate information” for consumers, including 86% of products which carried the CMO’s guidelines. The group also said it would “further clarity” its advice to producers that such an approach was the “recommended method” for presenting the information.

The research also revealed significant increases in many brands going “above and beyond the guidelines”, and showcasing additional elements such as calorie information, drink driving warnings and age restriction.

According to the group this was “further demonstrating a serious and widespread commitment to responsible marketing and tackling harm”.

More than half of drinks producers how carry calorie information (51%) on labels and more than a third (38%) carry a drink-driving warning. Also, 36% carried age restriction warnings — all of which were improvements on the previous review as well.

Small gaps

In cases where the group described as “small gaps in the market”, it was “reaching out to producers to encourage further take up of the guidelines”, and it said that “many already (are) confirming changes are underway”.

It said: “Any producers who are unsure of the guidelines or our Codes of Practice are encouraged to take advantage of our free and confidential Advisory Service”.

Speaking about the findings, Matt Lambert, the CEO of the Portman Group, said it was “incredibly pleased” to see “such positive levels of increasing adherence to our best practice guidelines”.

He said: “(It) showcase(s) the alcohol industry’s long-standing commitment to proactively ensuring responsible marketing and informing consumers.

“It’s important to remember that all of this has been achieved without any need for government legislation and crucially at no cost to the UK taxpayer.

“Our guidelines are absolutely clear that labels should contain distinct information, such as on units and Government lower-risk drinking guidelines, so that consumers are able to easily understand and make informed choices about their alcohol consumption. It’s particularly positive to see not only is this being near universally met, but many producers are going above and beyond to provide additional information such as calories and drink driving warnings.”

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