Diageo has become the latest manufacturer to publish comprehensive nutritional and alcohol information about its brands online. Earlier this month AB InBev, which already offers a similar service, announced plans to place this information on-pack.
With its newly revised DRINKiQ.com website, Diageo now provides a breakdown of the alcohol, calorie, carbohydrate, protein, saturated fat, sugar, caffeine and sodium content contained in its beverages.
This builds on Diageo’s global commitment made in March 2015 to start voluntarily providing nutrition and alcohol content information per standardised serving on all its brands. In the first move to fulfil this commitment, the first shipment of Crown Royal labelled with macronutrient and calorie information was released in the US in October 2015.
Carolyn Panzer, Alcohol in Society Director, Diageo said: “As people become more and more interested in their diet and lifestyle choices, we need to play our part. We know that consumers want nutritional information about what they drink – just as they do with the foods they eat; they also want a clear and easy way to know how much alcohol they are drinking.”
Key features of the new site include:
- An enhanced What’s In Your Drink section which details comprehensive nutritional, and alcohol content per serve information for all of Diageo’s brands, alongside ingredient information. This includes a breakdown of calories, carbohydrates and protein as well as, for the first time, detailing saturated fat, sugar, caffeine and sodium content.
- A new, simple to use, Drinks Calculator to help consumers easily calculate and track the amount of alcohol they are drinking per serving and how many calories they have consumed for a range of common drinks, instead of expecting them to do the maths.
- Tips on responsible drinking – including the chance to explore how food, age, size and gender affects how the body processes alcohol.
The site also includes the truth behind common myths around alcohol consumption – such as:
- “Spirits contain more alcohol than beer and wine”. In fact 25ml of distilled spirits (e.g. Smirnoff, Tanqueray) contains 1 unit of alcohol, versus over 2 units in a pint of lager. Spirits also have fewer calories than wine or beer – 25ml of distilled spirits has approximately 55 calories compared to 125 calories in an average 175ml glass of wine or around 180 calories in a pint of lager.
- “Eating food means I can drink more”. In fact eating food only slows down how quickly alcohol is absorbed – it does not prevent it from having an effect on the body.
- “Drinking coffee sobers people up faster.” Coffee might make people feel more awake, but the alcohol still remains in the body and takes about one hour per one drink to process.
The new website is mobile-friendly and easy to use so that consumers can quickly access information about what’s in their favourite cocktail on their phone whenever they want.
