Have you ever been in the club counting calories after your third vodka and pineapple juice?  I bet you thought that the fruit juice that was the culprit in packing on those dreaded pounds.  Even though alcohol consumption is a small part of what causes weight gain, in relation to all other forms liquid calories, sans water, it seems some concerned alcohol industry heads want consumers to know what constituents their favorite spirit.

In a Canadian Press article, Michelle Locke reported on a beer and wine distributor who wants nutritional labels placed on all alcoholic beverages.  Guy Smith, executive vice-president in North America for Diageo, was quoted as saying, “In the year 2011, it’s sort of bizarre that alcohol’s the only consumable product sold in the United States that you can’t tell what’s inside the bottle.”

Alcohol is a substance that finds its way into a myriad of controversies that commonly involve over-consumption and recklessness, a striking similarity to human food behaviors.  The fast-food industry fought against labeling of their high caloric items, but it turned out to not affect sales throughout the country.

So, why would some of leading industry players want to self-imposed a tag on their lucrative racket.  Well it turns out that if you add more labels, the marketing avenues for any particular company opens up tremendously.  The whole “light beer” campaign is built on this premise and brings in enormous revenue from the calorie-conscious crowd.

Given America’s lack of basic nutritional knowledge–through mostly no fault of their own considering all the highly confusing and contradicting diet “expert” books and videos–alcohol, wine, and beer corporations will seize the moment and, subsequently, hire the most creative marketing agencies to promote “high protein” beer and “non-fat” wine.  The fact that most alcohol is referred to as “empty calories” by most nutrition and diet professionals, suggests that this labeling ploy is a large scheme to keep their profits in the black in an increasingly health conscious food and beverage market.

What do you think, would labeling make you think twice about buying your favorite alcoholic beverage?