European brewers ahead of schedule with better ingredients and calorie labelling

The Brewers of Europe announced on 28 May 2019 that 60% of beers sold in Europe are now labelling calories.

Brewers have been voluntarily rolling out ingredients listing and energy information in full accordance with EU law, on-label and online, since 2015. In July 2018 the commitment was bolstered with a recommendation to all breweries to list ingredients and calories on the labels of pre-packaged beer containers (bottles, cans etc.).

As reported on beerwisdom.eu, in addition to beating the target on energy information, 85% of beers in Europe now also label their ingredients.

The Brewers of Europe, promoting the interests of over 9,500 breweries, is now into the fifth year of its push towards even greater transparency and better information for consumers. Brewers are providing these basic product facts by voluntarily implementing the labelling rules already laid down in the EU’s general regulation on food information to consumers, even if there currently remains an EU level exemption for alcoholic beverages above 1.2% abv from any legal obligation to provide this information.

The Brewers of Europe believes that, by fulfilling its consumer information commitment, Europe’s brewing sector is providing the right template and meeting consumers’ expectations. We will continue reporting on roll-out and inviting the other alcoholic beverage sectors to follow our lead, in order to ensure consumers, receive understandable, recognisable, comparable and accurate information for all drinks.