CROWN ROYAL NUTRITION LABELS

YOU MAY or may not be interested in how many calories your Crown Royal cocktail has, but soon that information will be available for your reading pleasure on the back of the box. Drinks company Diageo has begun shipping cases of Crown Royal that include macro-nutritional information on the product, becoming the first alcohol beverage brand to include a serving facts panel on its packaging. The panel details serving size, number of servings per container, ABV, number of calories, grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving, and the US Dietary Guidelines definition of a standard drink – .6 fluid ounces of alcohol.

Twelve years ago, Diageo and a coalition of consumer and public health advocates publicly asked US regulators to allow Serving Fact information on beverage alcohol products. In 2O13, the US Treasury’s Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved the request. Since that time, the TTB has approved a label that specifically references the guidelines. Prior to the approval, labeling alcoholic beverages was not allowed. Including serving facts information is now voluntary.

Guy Smith, Executive Vice President at Diageo North America, has been advocating for nutritional labels on alcoholic products for more than a decade. Since 2OO6, Diageo has provided serving facts information about its brands on its DRINKiQ.com website. Diageo will continue to add the information to its labeling and packaging as brands change or update their labels. According to the drinks company, a 2O14 study conducted by FoodMinds found that 86 percent of US alcohol consumers agree that serving facts labels that include the .6 fluid ounces of alcohol per drink definition provide useful and relevant information, while 83 percent agree the same information on a label helps them understand the definition of a standard drink.