Breweries inform about beer belly risk

21-Jan-2019 - Germany

Is beer fattening? The answer to this question should be given to the consumer on the label of the beer bottle in the future. The German Brewers' Association and the Association of Private Breweries in Germany announced on Friday that breweries will voluntarily label all beers and mixed beer drinks with calorie information. So far, beer drinkers have often searched in vain. At the same time, the brewers urged the wine and spirits industry to follow their example.

The background: So far, alcoholic beverages in the EU do not have to carry nutritional information. However, the EU Commission has been pushing for voluntary labelling by manufacturers for years. The majority of consumers are also in favour. According to a survey conducted by the INSA opinion research institute on behalf of the Brauer-Bund, 52 percent of German consumers would welcome it if the calorie information could be found on the label of all alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine or whisky in the future.

For Norbert Eichele, Managing Director of the Brauer-Bund, the step is therefore simply contemporary: "An average supermarket today has more than 12,000 products on offer. Almost all of them have calorie information on the packaging. Only when it comes to alcoholic beverages are customers still looking in vain. This is not comprehensible for many consumers. In the meantime, they simply expect this information".

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The brewers also have nothing to hide, Eichele stressed. On the contrary, greater transparency is in their own best interest. Surveys show that many consumers in Europe overestimate the calorie content of beer. "A bottle of Pilsner has an average of about 200 kilocalories. But many consumers believe it is 300, 400 or even 500 kilocalories," he reports. The calorie content of a "normal" beer corresponds according to data of the consumer center Hamburg approximately to that of apple or orange juice as well as Coca-Cola.

"According to Eichele, all major German brewery groups are involved in the introduction of calorie labelling, as are many of the smaller suppliers. According to a report of the "Lebensmittel Zeitung", Bitburger, Krombacher, Oettinger, Paulaner, Radeberger, Veltins and Warsteiner are among those who are involved. International brewing giants such as ABInBev, Carlsberg and Heiniken have even introduced labelling.

In Germany, the calorie information is to be gradually introduced on the labels. "Many will still use up their old stocks of labels. But by the end of the year, the new label will already be visible on many brands," predicted Eichele.

The food expert Armin Valet of the consumer advice centre Hamburg welcomed the step of the breweries and urged the wine and spirits industry to quickly follow the example of the beer brewers. "There is no reason to maintain the exception for wine and spirits," he said. According to the consumer association, sparkling wine and wine contain almost twice as many calories as beer. For spirits, it is even five to six times as high.

First reactions of the winegrowers to the perhaps not completely altruistic appeal of the brewers were rather reserved. The German Wine Institute in Bodenheim near Mainz said that the winegrowers did not want to shut themselves off from additional consumer information. However, the overall concept in the German alcohol industry and at EU level has not yet been fully discussed. Wine is a much more complex drink than beer.

Michael Bock, spokesman for the Franconian Winegrowers' Association, explained: "We see no need for nutritional or calorie information on wine, since wine is a stimulant". He added: "The people in Franconia don't consider whether wine makes you fat either. They enjoy it. The Federal Association of the Spirits Industry did not initially provide a statement /rea/DP/mis (dpa)

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