Drinkers duped into low-carb beers believing by false ‘healthy’ marketing claims, says Cancer Council

THINK low-carb beer is good for you? Think again. Looks like we’ve fallen victim to a cheeky marketing ploy. Here’s what we really should be drinking.

DRINKERS are being duped into believing low-­carbohydrate beers are healthy, and need protection from questionable marketing, the Cancer Council Victoria claims.

Despite advertising it’s better for you, an analysis of so-called low-carb beer shows it is no better at preventing a beer gut than a normal brew.

Research by the Cancer Council Victoria’s LiveLighter campaign also shows the marketing is working, with more than a third of male and almost a quarter of female drinkers believing low-carb beer is healthier.

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Brothers Mike and Andy Dupes run a cafe and drink beer — but they won’t be drinking low-carb beer again. Picture: David Caird

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Because the carbohydrate content of beer is already low — accounting for only 1-3 per cent of the total kilojoules in most beers — cutting its content has a negligible impact on the healthiness of the drink, LiveLighter campaign manager Alison McAleese said.

Instead, it is the actual alcohol content of a beer that accounts for more than 80 per cent of its kilojoules.

Ms McAleese said the only effective way to cut beer’s impact on your waistline is to drink lower alcohol brews.

“Carbohydrates really makes a very tiny difference — the best thing you can do is pick a lower alcohol or light beer,” Ms McAleese said.

“The marketing around certain beers definitely contributes to the misconception.”

Information provided by manufacturers to the Cancer Council shows most beers marketed as being low-carb have 0.3-1g of carbohydrates per 100ml, while standard beers of similar alcohol strength contain 2-3.2g of carbohydrates per 100ml.

But, with alcohol contributing 100-145 kilojoules per 100ml in all beers, the carbohydrates are drop in the amber ocean.

The carbohydrate content of beer is already low, LiveLighter campaign manager Alison McAleese says. Picture: iStock

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A survey of more than 1000 Victorias found double the number of people believe low-carb beer is healthy than those who believe heavy beer is, adding to LiveLighter’s call for greater marketing regulation.

“Food has quite good regulations about what has to be displayed in terms of nutrition, but alcohol does not have to do that,” Ms McAleese said.

“We would like to see kilojoule content displayed on the beer and then people could make a comparison between brands of which one has the lower energy, instead of having to go of the front of the pack marketing.”

Like many people, Andy and Mike Dupes switched to low-carb beers thinking they were doing something good for themselves, only to learn it was no better.

“It’s not labelled properly so there was really no way of knowing any different,” Andy Dupes said.

“It feels like they’re hiding information I’d definitely love to have more information about this on the label.”

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