Big Brewers Agree To Add Calorie Counts And Carb Content To Nutrition Labels

Although the government warning on beer bottles is usually stamped in bold letters, the calories and carbs in your six-pack are a little tougher to decipher.Now there's a new initiative for beer companies to support nutrition fact transparency.

Driven by an agreement from the four largest brewers in America (Anheuser-Busch InBev, MillerCoors, Heineken, and Constellation Brands), the initiative will create a uniform standard for clearly labeling calorie counts and nutrition content. These brewers produce around 81 percent of the beer consumed in America, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The voluntary guidelines would also include a freshness date or date of production. Although many beer companies already include this information, the agreement, which is backed by the Beer Institute, would standardize nutrition facts across the brewing industry. The trade group has suggested breweries should comply by 2020, although some companies may comply sooner.

"The Brewers' Voluntary Disclosure Initiative reflects U.S. consumers' increasing interest in knowing more about the products they enjoy," Anheuser-Busch InBev spokesperson Katie Petru told the Post-Dispatch. "We will consider consumer interests as they evolve and will continue to find ways to share information with consumers in ways that are most meaningful to them, and depending on our capabilities and local regulatory requirements."