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The European Union (EU) is the heaviest-drinking area in the world. In 2019, the average total per-capita consumption among adults in the EU was 11 litres of pure alcohol, roughly double the global average of 5.5 litres. Experts maintain that clearly visibleBriefing - Alcohol labelling: State of play - 19-05-2025
The European Union (EU) is the heaviest-drinking area in the world. In 2019, the average total per-capita consumption among adults in the EU was 11 litres of pure alcohol, roughly double the global average of 5.5 litres. Experts maintain that clearly visible, compulsory, standardised health warning labels on alcoholic beverages are essential to help tackle irresponsible drinking behaviour and excessive energy intake from alcohol. Under EU food labelling legislation, producers are required to provide a list of ingredients and a nutrition declaration for drinks, except for alcoholic beverages containing more than 1.2 % by volume of alcohol. In the absence of EU-wide harmonised rules on alcohol labelling, France, Germany, Ireland and Lithuania have implemented legislation on health information (e.g. warnings about drinking while pregnant, driving, or underage, or general warnings about the health risks posed by drinking). Nine EU countries have some form of legislation on ingredient listing, and only one – Ireland – requires producers to disclose the drink's energy value. A 2017 European Commission report on the mandatory labelling of the ingredients in alcoholic beverages and their nutritional value concluded that there were no valid reasons to justify the absence of this information and invited the industry to propose self-regulatory measures. In 2019, the representatives of the spirits industry committed to including the energy value on the label and providing a list of ingredients and full nutritional values by digital means. According to the latest spiritsEUROPE implementation report on self-regulatory commitments, by the end of 2024 over 70 % of spirits in the total EU market included on-label energy information. With growing consumer demand for non-alcoholic wines, the Commission proposed in March 2025 to harmonise some labelling requirements. However, a cancer health warning that the Commission had planned to introduce during its previous mandate is still missing from the proposal. Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP Read more
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