Alcoholic beverages sold in Australia are largely exempt from requirements to display nutrition information on packages, unlike other food and beverages. However, alcoholic beverage manufacturers can provide nutrition-related information voluntarily. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of nutrition-related information on packaged alcoholic beverages in Australia. An in-store audit of the largest alcohol retailer in Melbourne, Australia was conducted in July 2021. A systematic sampling method was used to assess the presence and format of nutrition information on 850 alcoholic beverages across 5 alcohol categories (wine (n = 200), beer (n = 200), spirits (n = 200), ready-to-drink beverages (n = 140) and ciders (n = 110)). Most products (n = 682, 80.2%) did not present nutrition-related information. Where information was presented (n = 168), it was most frequently on ready-to-drink beverages (n = 81, 57.9%) and least frequently on spirits (n = 9, 4.5%) and wines (n = 9, 4.5%). Nutrition information was most frequently in the format of a nutrition information panel (n = 150, 89.3%) and approximately half of labelled beverages (n = 86, 51.2%) included a nutrition content claim (e.g., 'low in carbs'). Given limited voluntary implementation of nutrition labelling on alcoholic beverages in Australia and the substantial contribution of alcoholic beverages to energy intake, consideration of mandatory nutrition labelling, in a standardised format designed to maximise public health benefit, on alcoholic beverages is warranted.
Keywords: alcohol; energy; labelling; nutrients; nutrition; obesity.