Start explaining your alcohol content, says Dietary Guidelines

Fat guy drinking beer and eating food — *CBB* Editor Keith Gribbins pictured.

We are excessive. Beer, food, sex, drugs, reality television programming — these are things we love so much, they kill us. You (the consumer and beer maker) need to find a balanced diet of the things you consume — the Dietary Guidelines for Americans says so. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture nicely puts together the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to give consumers the information they need to better guide moderate consumption of food and alcohol, and then us Americans ignore it.

The 2015-2020 edition of the Dietary Guidelines (that’s a big stretch, right?) consists of three chapters and 14 appendices of dietary insights, giving consumers sound advice so they can make informed decisions about their awful eating and drinking habits. This new edition of the Dietary Guidelines includes, for the first time, significant language which recognizes that all drinks are not created equally, noting that, “Packaged (e.g., canned beer, bottled wine) and mixed beverages (e.g., margarita, rum and soda, mimosa, sangria) vary in alcohol content. For this reason it is important to determine how many alcoholic drink-equivalents are in the beverage and limit intake.”

The National Beer Wholesalers of America released a letter praising the additions and recommending some alcohol content packing tips for brewers to help abide. The Beer Institute, the Brewers Association and the Wine Institute co-wrote the announcement.

“The new version of the Dietary Guidelines is a positive development for American consumers,” said NBWA President and CEO Craig Purser. “NBWA is pleased that HHS and USDA have recognized that the definition of a standard drink can be misleading and generate confusion for consumers.”

Read the joint letter here. Then put down that donut, chug that beer and go for a walk or something.