Diageo Arms Consumers with Comprehensive Nutritional and Alcohol Information About its Brands

NORWALK, Conn., January 19, 2016 /3BL Media/ - With the launch of its newly revised DRINKiQ.com, Diageo is advancing its commitment to give consumers greater transparency and help them to make more informed choices about alcohol as part of a balanced lifestyle. To this end, the company has significantly enhanced the nutrition, calorie and alcohol content information available about all its brands. This includes a breakdown of calories, carbohydrates and protein as well as, for the first time, detailing saturated fat, sugar, caffeine and sodium content. This valuable new information is now available on its responsible drinking website DRINKiQ.com.

DRINKIQ.com includes useful new tools such as a simple to use ‘Drinks Calculator’, to help people calculate and track their alcohol and calorie intake. It also provides responsible drinking tips and advice on how food, age, size and gender affects how the body processes alcohol, alongside the enhanced ‘What’s in your Drink’ tool.

Today’s announcement builds on Diageo’s global commitment in March 2015 to start voluntarily providing nutrition and alcohol content information per standardised serving on all its brands. In the first move to fulfil this commitment, the first shipment of Crown Royal labelled with macronutrient and calorie information was released in the US in October 2015.

Carolyn Panzer, Alcohol in Society Director, Diageo said: “As people become more and more interested in their diet and lifestyle choices, we need to play our part. We know that consumers want nutritional information about what they drink – just as they do with the foods they eat; they also want a clear and easy way to know how much alcohol they are drinking. We believe passionately in helping people to understand what’s in their drink and to make informed choices about drinking or not drinking. Alcohol is alcohol. There is no drink of moderation – only a practice of moderation.”

Key features of the new site include:

• An enhanced What’s In Your Drink section which details comprehensive nutritional, and alcohol content per serve information for all of Diageo’s brands, alongside ingredient information. This includes a breakdown of calories, carbohydrates and protein as well as, for the first time, detailing saturated fat, sugar, caffeine and sodium content.
• A new, simple to use, Drinks Calculator to help consumers easily calculate and track the amount of alcohol they are drinking per serving and how many calories they have consumed for a range of common drinks, instead of expecting them to do the math.
• Tips on responsible drinking – including the chance to explore how food, age, size and gender affect how the body processes alcohol.

The site also includes the truth behind common myths around alcohol consumption – such as:

• “Spirits contain more alcohol than beer and wine”. In fact 1.5 oz of distilled spirits (e.g. Smirnoff, Tanqueray) contains 0.6 oz alcohol, the same amount of alcohol as in a 12 oz glass of regular (5% ABV) beer. Spirits also have fewer calories than wine or beer – 1.5 oz of distilled spirits has approximately 96 calories, compared to 125 calories in an average 5 oz glass of wine or around 153 calories in a 12 oz glass of regular (5% ABV) beer.
  • “Eating food means I can drink more”. In fact eating food only slows down how quickly alcohol is absorbed - it does not prevent it from having an effect on the body.
  • “Drinking coffee sobers people up faster.” Coffee might make people feel more awake, but the alcohol still remains in the body and takes about one hour per one drink to process.

Barbara J. Moore, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shape Up America! said: “Anyone looking to watch their weight will find the reinvigorated DRINKiQ site helpful for tracking calories and other important facts about alcohol. We applaud Diageo for its commitment to greater transparency and for providing consumers with essential nutrient, calorie and alcohol information about their drinks. The new site is engaging, as well as helpful to people seeking to make informed choices for a balanced lifestyle.”

The new DRINKiQ.com is mobile-friendly and easy to use so that consumers can quickly access information about what’s in their favorite cocktail on their phone, whenever they want.

The site is available in 24 countries and 12 languages, and has been designed to ensure content is tailored to the environment and regulation in the consumer’s location, particularly legal purchase age.

Ends

Notes to Editors

DRINKiQ.com was first introduced in 2008 when Diageo led the industry in launching a responsible drinking website.

Diageo’s decision to extend the nutritional information it provides is in response to consumer demand for more nutritional information about what they drink. For example:

• Research from NewsCred in February 2015 demonstrates the consumer desire for information on balanced lifestyles.[1]

• 47% of people in the UK have become more health conscious in the past 12 months
• 76% of people in the UK say that brands now have a responsibility to provide consumers with health content
•  27% of people in the UK say they feel informed regarding health issues

• The Nielsen Global Health & Wellness Survey of 30,000 people in 60 countries found half (49%) of global respondents believe they are overweight, and half (50%) are trying to lose weight.[2]

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan’s whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

[1] ‘Health and the high street: How retail, food and drink brands are shaping UK health with content’,   NewsCred, February 2015.

[2]   ‘We are what we eat: Healthy eating trends around the world’, Nielsen, January 2015