Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS), Alcohol Change UK (ACUK), the Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA), and Action on Sugar, analysed the sugar and calorie content of 30 wines from across the UK’s top 10 wine brands. The review also sought to establish the extent to which this information was available to consumers either on the product label or online.

This study also added to the body of evidence on the ineffectiveness of the voluntary system of alcohol labelling in the UK. One in six (17%) of the products reviewed had no or incorrect information on the low risk drinking guidelines, with limited use of health warnings and other warnings like drink driving and age warnings. Although all the labels displayed a pregnancy warning in symbol format, none provided this in text form. None of the labels surveyed displayed a full list of ingredients. Some brands took an inconsistent approach to labelling, providing information on some products but not others.

In the absence of information about nutritional content on alcoholic drinks, people cannot tell how much sugar or calories they are consuming from alcohol and are kept in the dark as to how alcohol contributes to their diet. Nutritional information, alongside other key health information, should be easily accessible to drinkers to enable them to make informed decisions.