Sugar Limit: Study Fires Wine Warning

Do you know how much sugar is in a bottle of wine? Does it take you past the daily sugar limit for an adult?

The answer, surprisingly to many, is yes! A recent study of more than 30 bottles of wine found two glasses was enough to hit the recommended daily sugar limit for adults.

The research – conducted by Alcohol Health Alliance UK – found some bottles of wine contained more sugar than a glazed doughnut.

NHS recommendations suggest adults should consume a maximum of 30g of sugar per day, but just two medium-sized glasses of some wines see that limit reached.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, was quoted on the BBC highlighting the lack of requirement to put nutritional information on alcohol products as a cause of concern.

He said: “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.”

Gilmore’s call for greater clarity was reflected in a YouGov survey of more than 12,000 people which found 61% of participants wanted calorie information on wine labels, with over half asking for sugar content information on there.

Traditionally, the type of sugars most adults in the UK eat too much of are free sugars. These, describe the NHS, are any sugars added to food or drinks, sugars in honey, syrups, nectars and unsweetened fruit juices, vegetable juices, and smoothies.

Sugar found naturally in milk, fruit, and vegetables doesn’t count as free sugars.