Is it time to list nutritional information on booze? One B.C. researcher thinks so

08/28/2019

A B.C. researcher wants to see nutritional information included on the labels of alcoholic drinks.

Adam Sherk, a researcher with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, recently concluded a study that found the average Canadian drinker puts back about 1.8 alcoholic beverages per day.

That works out to 250 calories — more than 10 per cent of a person’s daily requirement.

“That’s about the number of calories that are in a small bag of chips from the corner store,” Sherk told Global News.

However, those calories can stack up quickly when binge drinking is involved: four or five drinks in a single sitting adds up to about 550 calories, or more than a double cheeseburger, Sherk says.

He explains the big problem is that consumers have no clear way of knowing how many calories they’re piling on.

“Alcohol has uniquely been given this free pass compared to all the other food and beverages that have calorie and nutritional labelling on them,” Sherk said.

Alcohol is regulated under the federal Food and Beverages Act, but because it is considered to have no nutritional value, it doesn’t require nutritional labelling.

Sherk says he wants to see that change, with nutritional labelling and calorie counts added to the package.

Global News has requested comment from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

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