Drinkers are mistakenly thinking low-sugar and low-carb alcoholic drinks were “healthy”, when compared to traditional alcoholic drinks.
A survey by The George Institute for Global Health found drinkers were more likely to view alcohol as a healthy option when packaging displayed low-sugar or low-carbohydrate claims.
The Institute’s Food Governance Program Lead Alexandra Jones said the perception was strongest in younger drinkers, potentially offsetting recent gains in reducing harmful levels of drinking in the age group.
Dr Jones said when it came to alcohol, there was no such thing as a healthy option.
“No matter how pretty the packaging, the alcohol inside is still a much more serious health concern than the small amount of sugar or carbohydrates involved,” she said.
“The irony is that alcohol itself is higher in calories than sugar or carbs.”
Dr Jones said the results of the national survey come as government regulators reviewed a growing body of evidence showing consumers’ views were influenced by nutrition claims.
She said promoting sugar and/or carb levels on premix, cider, beer, spirit and wine products was an increasingly common practice on products targeted at younger drinkers, as the industry tried to counter declining use in this group.
“Given the sophisticated marketing tactics the alcohol industry deploys to promote low sugar or low carbohydrate levels on labelling and in multimillion-dollar, multi-channel advertising campaigns, it’s easy to see how consumers are persuaded these products are healthier options.”
Dr Jones said the research found those who first viewed products without sugar claims were three times more likely to consider them to be healthy when low or zero sugar claims were added and respondents who first saw products without carbohydrate claims were twice as likely to consider them healthy after seeing the same products with low or zero carb claims.
She said these effects were 1.5 times stronger among younger respondents (18-24 years) than older respondents.
