Crown Royal aims to make alcohol facts readily available and easily understandable for consumers.
Diageo’s Crown Royal blended Canadian whisky, the top-selling Canadian whisky in the United States, is the first alcohol beverage brand to include a serving facts panel on its packaging. The panel details serving size, number of servings per container, alcohol by volume, number of calories and grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving – and the U.S.Dietary Guidelines definition of a standard drink – 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol.
A 2014 study conducted by FoodMinds found that 86% of US alcohol consumers agree that serving facts labels that include the 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol per drink definition provide useful and relevant information, while 83% agree the same information on a label helps them understand the definition of a standard drink. The majority of respondents in the same study specifically indicated that beverage labeling that includes alcohol content per serving is helpful to them in following the recommended dietary guidelines for alcohol consumption.
Twelve years ago, Diageo led the industry in the US when it stood with a coalition of consumer and public health advocates to publicly ask US regulators to allow Serving Fact information on beverage alcohol products. In 2013 the US Treasury’s Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved that request, finally allowing labels that include serving size, number of servings per container, alcohol by volume, number of calories and grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving. Since that time, the TTB has approved a label that specifically references the US Dietary Guidelines, which defines a drink as being 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol.
Many people don’t realize that before the recent ruling by the TTB, it was actually not allowed in the US for beverage alcohol manufacturers to list these basic serving facts on most labels of alcohol products. It is important to note that including serving facts information is now voluntary, so producers have the option to include this information, or not.
Diageo group’s brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan’s whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray, Guinness, and Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines.
