“Low carb” and “low sugar” labelling on alcoholic drinks should be scrapped, according to peak health organisations, who say the claims should never have been allowed as they mislead consumers into thinking alcohol products are “healthier”.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has called for submissions into its review of sugar claims on alcohol labels, prompted by concerns from health ministers that the labels are confusing.
A submission to the review from the Cancer Council, seen by Guardian Australia, said it strongly opposes FSANZ permitting nutrition claims about carbohydrates and sugars on alcoholic drinks.
“All alcohol products increase the risk of cancer, regardless of their sugar or carbohydrate content,” the submission states.
“Any marketing and promotion of alcohol products in a way that implies a product is ‘healthier’ must not be permitted, with the exception of appropriately identifying zero- or low- alcohol products.”
Cancer Council’s submission was written after consultation with other health groups including the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Alcohol Change Australia, the Public Health Association of Australia, Dieticians Australia and the George Institute.
In its submission, Alcohol Change Australia said 15 people died from alcohol-related harm in Australia every day, and that alcohol consumption was causally linked to more than 200 diseases and conditions, including seven types of cancer.
While the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey found the number of people giving up or reducing their alcohol intake was increasing, there had been little change in the proportion of people drinking at risky levels, the submission said.
The executive officer of Alcohol Change Australia, Hannah Pierce, said: “Claims like ‘low carb’ or ‘low sugar’ are marketing tools, not legitimate sources of nutritional information.
“Australians should instead be able to access necessary information including the number of standard drinks and total energy content in an alcoholic product.”
A study by Cancer Council Victoria and public health group LiveLighter found most low-carb beers contain similar levels of carbohydrates and kilojoules as regular beer. The difference in kilojoules is not significant enough to prevent weight gain, the study also found.
Dr Rosemary Stanton, a public health nutritionist, said total kilojoule labelling on alcoholic beverages was “urgently needed” and should be compulsory. She agreed “low carb” labels should go.
“The problem with alcohol is not the carbohydrates, or sugar, which is just a form of carbohydrate,” Stanton said. “The problem is the alcohol content.”
Each gram of alcohol contains 29 kilojoules (seven calories), while carbohydrates/ sugars have 17 kilojoules (four calories) a gram.
“The alcohol industry objects to any suggestions of label changes that are made on health grounds, such as listing the total kilojoules, saying it is too expensive to change the label,” Stanton said. “But then they’re very happy to put low carb or low sugar on their products.”
Guardian Australia contacted industry group Alcohol Beverages Australia for comment.
In August the George Institute for Global Health conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,000 adults on behalf of Alcohol Change Australia that asked people to rate the healthiness of different alcoholic products, and to assess how low carb and low sugar messages would affect the number of drinks they would consume.
The number of people who understood that alcohol is unhealthy fell from 48% to 40% when a low carb claim was added, and fell to 37% when a low sugar claim was added. One in five poll respondents said that if they saw a low sugar claim on an alcoholic drink, they would drink more of that product.
The chair of Cancer Council’s alcohol committee, Clare Hughes, said nutrition content claims about carbohydrates and sugars should not be permitted on alcohol products “to protect the Australian public from being misinformed”.
A FSANZ spokesperson said the labelling review had received 82 submissions, which were expected to be made public “later this year”.
“The Code currently permits voluntary nutrition content claims about carbohydrate on alcoholic beverages … there was a lack of clarity about whether nutrition content claims about sugar, as a component of carbohydrate, were permitted.
“Going forward, FSANZ expects to undertake targeted consultations with key stakeholder groups including public health and consumer organisations, jurisdictions and industry to inform its final assessment.”
The board’s decision, expected in 2024, will be notified to ministers responsible for food regulation who can agree that the standard should become law, or ask for a review.
