One widely available drink was found to contain twice the recommended daily allowance of sugar.
Pre-mixed drinks and cocktails often contain “alarming” levels of sugar, according to new research.
Campaign group Action on Sugar said regulations allowing alcoholic drinks to be sold without nutrition and calorie labelling meant consumers often did not realise how much sugar was in their drink.
A 700ml bottle of WKD Blue, for example, contains 15 teaspoons of sugar – almost twice the recommended daily allowance for adults. TGI Fridays’ Passion Fruit Martini, meanwhile, came in at 12 teaspoons of sugar per 500ml.
Despite their high levels of sugar, the majority of pre-mixed drinks did not make this information apparent on their labels.
Researchers found just 14 of 154 products contained information about the amount of sugar they contained, while 59% had no nutritional labelling whatsoever.
Action on Sugar is now urging ministers to force manufacturers to include full nutritional information on all their products.
In a statement, the charity said: “Alcohol and poor diet, of which excess sugar intake is a part, are both associated with an increased risk of many health conditions, including tooth decay, obesity, type 2 diabetes and several cancers.
“Associated harms of both alcohol consumption and poor diet are particularly prevalent in areas of deprivation – leading to widening health inequalities, something both the Scottish and UK Governments say is a main policy focus. Despite this, there are currently no mandatory requirements for nutrition or calorie labelling on drinks containing over 1.2% alcohol.”
Lorraine Tulloch, programme lead at Obesity Action Scotland, said: “Ready to drink alcoholic beverages may be convenient but this study shows the alarming amount of sugar the industry is adding to these products.
“These products aren’t currently required to have a nutrition label on them and we can see very few companies have chosen to provide this information. It is vital that customers be afforded an informed choice when purchasing food or drinks – there is no good reason why this should be any different simply because these drinks contain alcohol.
“The lack of available on-pack nutrition information, exposed by the survey, shows that voluntary self-regulation by the alcohol industry is not good enough.”
