Savvy Consumer: Hey, what's in this drink?

The Fourth of July is traditionally the biggest beer-selling day of the year, according to the Beer Institute.

But for Americans imbibing that holiday, finding the calorie and carbohydrate count of their favorite beer, wine or mixed drink would have taken some digging.

Until now.

This week, the Consumer Federation of America came up with a comparative alcohol facts guide of 26 top-selling alcohol brands, including:

13 beers such as Coors, Budweiser and Heineken, and flavored malt beverages such as Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Bartles & Jaymes Classic Original.

Eight spirits products, including vodka, rum, whiskey, gin and tequila.

Five brands of wine, including Almaden, Beringer, Franzia and Gallo.

It’s pretty sobering news.

Take, for instance, Mike’s Hard Lemonade. It sounds light and breezy in contrast to a beer, but an 11.2-ounce bottle has 220 calories, compared with 12-ounce servings of light beers that come in at under 100 and regular beers at around 140. And the carb level was off the wall — 32 grams per serving, versus around 10 for regular beer and 3 to 5 for light beer.

The spirits part of the guide looks pretty good — no carbs and around 100 calories per drink — until you remember that most of these drinks come with mixes. A 6-ounce margarita (smaller than most restaurant versions) is close to 400 calories, according to Amy Goodson, a registered dietitian at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital. Most serve a 12-ounce version, with a whopping 800 calories, or even larger drinks.

Beyond the labels

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, most of us don’t pay much attention to nutrition, Goodson said.

"People tend to look at it as a beverage and not as calories," she said.

CFA and other consumer groups are trying to change that.

"Consumers have no way of knowing the most basic information about alcoholic beverages," said Chris Waldrop, director of CFA’s Food Policy Institute.

Alcoholic products fall under the oversight of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and are not required to carry nutritional food labels, as are products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Waldrop said.

"We’re asking the federal government for additional information in a standardized way on these products," he said.

The FDA’s nutritional food-labeling program, begun in 1995, has been considered a success by nutritionists and dietitians.

Most adults (95 percent) have read food labels at some point when making food choices to learn nutritional information about a product, and 51 percent said they always or very often refer to food labels, according to a 2006 Harris Interactive/Wall Street Journal poll.

"I see people at the grocery store all the time studying and reading labels on everything," Goodson said.

Trying to find similar information on alcoholic beverages was difficult, Waldrop said. The CFA staff took what information they could find from the products’ Web sites but had to write to the manufacturers to get the rest of the data for the guide. CFA then verified its information by hiring Rtech Laboratories to analyze three products in each category and compare them with CFA’s findings.

"Consumers should not have to search out information on Web site pages to figure out what is in their drink," Waldrop said.

Eating and drinking

The problem is compounded by drinking in public places such as bars and restaurants, which also do not have to give out nutritional information, Goodson said.

"I think a lot of people drink when they’re out," she said. "They don’t realize how many calories or carbs they are drinking."

Another problem is that when you drink alcohol, you tend to eat more as well, Goodson said.

"When people are drinking, they’re less aware of what they’re eating," she said. "You can accidentally eat more than you thought you were going to."

Recent studies giving the green light to some drinks such as wine for better health can also lead to excesses, she said.

"Some people think that if a little is good, a lot is better," she said. "But you have to factor in those calories into your daily plan."

What’s ahead

TTB has proposed putting nutritional information on the products it oversees, Waldrop said.

Last July, it proposed an amendment to its regulations to require a statement of alcohol content as a percent of alcohol by volume on all alcoholic beverage products. The proposal also includes a service facts panel that would include calories, carbohydrates, fat and protein.

The TTB is looking at review comments on the amendment and expects to take action by year’s end, spokesman Art Resnick said.

"Different segments of the industry feel differently about this, and we’re looking to balance that with consumer needs," Resnick said.