Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dumb idea of the day: Nutrition labels for booze


Look out. Here comes the nanny state again.
Take a quick peek at the nutrition fact labels on that fruitcake tin or cookie package and you'll know how many calories to burn off if you decide to indulge. But when it comes to tipping back your favorite New Year's cocktail, you're on your own.

Labeling requirements for alcohol vary widely from product to product — and, in some cases, don't even include a list of basics like ingredients, calories and carbohydrates. A national consumer's group pushing for standardized alcohol labeling warns holiday partygoers that a trip to the bar may equal the caloric equivalent of a cheeseburger.

"It's easy to drink several beers and not know how many calories you are ingesting," said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America.

The federation and other consumer organizations say that along with nutrition information, all alcoholic beverage packaging should list the size of what's considered a standard single drink: 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of spirits. And just as there are warnings on tobacco products, Waldrop said, the alcohol label should include safe consumption levels: one drink a day for women, two a day for men.

1 comment:

  1. To the federation I say...FUCK OFF AND DIE! It's alcohol numbnuts I don't care how many calories are in it, never will. Hell I don't calorie count period. Why? because I find no percentage in being THIN if I'm going to be miserable and hating half the crap I eat because I can't eat the other half.

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