Nutritional Labels on Wines? From Sippin' Smart
"Michael Dragutsky is a physician, winery owner and fellow Memphian. I asked the Cornerstone Cellars’ owner his thoughts on the topic from an industry and medical perspective. Dr. Dragutsky states that “the nutritional content of wine and spirits is probably fairly constant across most brands. Unlike the sometimes big differences in nutritional contents of similar foods, the caloric content of alcohol shouldn’t vary among different producers and varietals.” He also suggested that “perhaps a nutritional chart should be posted where alcohol is sold to inform consumers of the nutritional value (and perhaps health benefits and risks) instead of making every winery or distiller put essentially the same label on all alcohol products.” This seems like a smart and potentially more cost-effective way of providing information to consumers.
“Wine and spirits are more of a luxury item than a foodstuff” says Dr. Dragutsky. “Going to the French bakery one does not ask how many carbs in the croissant. I think the same idea holds for wine. People who are really interested in the caloric content can easily find out this info.” Dr. Dragutsky and I share a similar opinion about labeling wine, beer & spirits. He summarized his opinion like this, “I’m not saying the nutritional value isn’t important, just that I’m not sure wine and spirits are in the same category as foodstuffs which can vary tremendously in their nutritional content and additives, and you often really don’t know what’s in a packaged food without reading the label.” "
