The Best Reason for Ingredient Labels on Every Bottle of Alcohol

Put ingredient labels on every bottle of alcohol, says Felicity Carter, the well-known journalist who writes Drinks Insider.

She's absolutely right. Why should you put ingredient labels on your product? Because an awful lot of people. spurred by antialcohol zealots, think you load your product with added sugars. So tell the truth:

• Pure distilled spirits – whiskey, vodka, gin and tequila – have 0 grams of sugar. Flavored spirits such as honey whiskey, whipped cream vodka, etc., rely on added sugars.
• Dry red and white wine generally have less than 1 gram of sugar per glass. Dessert wines such as port or sweeter sparkling wines can have five to 15 grams of sugar per serving.
• Beers have 0 grams of sugar. But beer does contain complex carbohydrates which convert to glucose.

So, put the amount of added sugar on an ingredients label and put it in your bottle or can.

Read Felicity's excellent article, Alcohol Keeps Handing Its Enemies a Free Weapon Instead of taking the easy win.

I'd go further: If you're advertising pure distilled spirits or beer, I'd include "Contains 0 grams of sugar." If you're advertising dry wine, "Contains less than 1 gram of sugar per serving." And the beer, wine and spirits trade associations need to hold conferences of scientists to discuss the absence of sugar in alcoholic beverages compared to other products.