Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - A plan to put nutrition labels on alcohol, which was first presented in 2003, may get another look this year in Washington. If approved, those labels would list information like calories, carbohydrates, serving size and alcohol per serving, but many question if it's really necessary.
Andy Watkins owns Lakeland Winery in Syracuse, and says the idea of putting nutrition labels on wine, is just plain baffling. He looked up the statistics for a typical dry red wine to prove his point. "Zero, zero. That's the nutritional facts for dry red wine," he said.
Still, supporters of labels on wine say they just want to give consumers the information they're entitled to. They're especially concerned with calorie count.
"Some people do want to know how many calories they're consuming on a daily basis, so that can help them when they need to know that," said Crouse Hospital Nutritionist Maureen Fauler.
Fauler admits, however, that nutrition labels are "probably not going to make a big difference in their decision of whether to have an alcoholic beverage or not."
Watkins says he is sometimes asked how much sugar is in his wine, but that most wine drinkers already have a good idea based on the type. For example, semi-sweet wine obviously has more sugar than a dry wine.
Watkins says the nutrition labels could also make a difference in the price of a bottle of wine. Adding labels would require each of the dozens of varieties he makes to be analyzed at a certified laboratory. It’s a costly process that he would have to pass on to his customer. As an alternative, he suggests generic labeling. "Merlot is merlot. Is it gonna be different from one winery to the next? It tastes different. Why don't they set up an industry standard?"
Generic labeling is a compromise Lakeland and other wineries across the nation seem willing to make.
Approval for any proposal must come from the federal tax and trade bureau, which has authority over alcohol labels. There is no timetable for when it might make that decision.
