A study suggests the average Canadian drinker receives more than one-tenth of their daily recommended calories from alcoholic beverages, but you wouldn't know it from looking at the label.
Researchers at University of Victoria looked at Statistics Canada data on alcohol sales and consumption between 2015-2016 to calculate how many calories Canadians consume from booze.
The study, originally published in the Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research in February, estimates the average Canadian drinker consumes 250 calories from alcohol per day _ the equivalent of a grab bag of chips.
Lead author Adam Sherk says when it comes to binge drinking, or four to five drinks per occasion, the number of additional calories rises to 550 per day, or about 25 per cent of the recommended daily caloric intake.
The post-doctoral fellow at University of Victoria's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research says previous studies suggest people tend not to consider alcohol part of their overall calorie count.
Sherk says these findings all point to the need for nutritional information to be required on labels for alcoholic beverages, as it is for almost all other packaged food and drinks.