Two glasses of wine can exceed daily sugar limit, experts warn

Just two glasses of wine could see an adult exceed their recommended daily limit of sugar, experts have warned.

Drinks can also be packed with calories and in some cases two glasses of wine can contain more calories than a burger.

The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) said product labelling on alcoholic drinks was “woefully inadequate” as it published new analysis on popular wines.

The AHA analysis suggested that many of the most sugar-packed wines were the ones which had the lowest strength of alcohol.

It said that with no legal requirement to display sugar content on alcohol labels, drinkers may opt for a lower-strength alcohol thinking that this is a healthier option but could unwittingly be upping their daily sugar intake.

The AHA said none of the 30 products examined in the study displayed sugar content on their labels – information which is required for all non-alcoholic drinks.

The study looked at the calorie and sugar content of 30 bottles of red, white, rose, fruit and sparkling wine sold in the UK.

The alliance, which represents more than 60 health organisations, said that there is a wide variation of sugar and calories across different wines but they said that with this information missing from most labels consumers are “being kept in the dark” about what they are drinking.

It said Government guidelines recommend that adults should consume no more than 30g of so-called free sugars per day but it is possible to reach almost this entire amount by drinking two medium glasses of wine.

The analysis also examined the calories in wine.

The AHA said that just two medium-sized glasses of the most calorific wines analysed contain more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.

Wines with high calorie content also tended to be higher strength drinks.

Calorie content was only displayed on 20% of the labels examined.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK said: “Alcohol’s current exemption from food and drink labelling rules is absurd.

“Shoppers who buy milk or orange juice have sugar content and nutritional information right at their fingertips.

“But this information is not required when it comes to alcohol – a product not just fuelling obesity but with widespread health harms and linked to seven types of cancer.

“The Government must publish its planned consultation on alcohol labelling without further delay – which we have been waiting for since 2020."