The recent ones changes in European Union regulations for wine labelling make it mandatory, for wines produced after 8 December 2023 (i.e. wines from the 2024 vintage), to indicate on the label the energy value in kJ and kcal per 100 ml of wine as well as an electronic list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration, which will be accessible to the consumer through a unique QRCODE code. How to calculate the energy value of wine, carbohydrates and sugars. What are the typical values for fat, protein and salt in wines.
Table of contents
Energy - Calorific value of wine
The energy value is easily calculated based on the official energy conversion factors of the European Regulation. A chemical analysis is required for alcohol percentage, residual sugars, total acidity and polyols. Most laboratories are able to issue relevant certificates of analysis for these indicators. The platform Wine e-labels offers you the possibility of automatically calculating the energy value based on the data you enter.
List of ingredients
The ingredient list is also relatively simple through a prescribed list available in the European Regulation. The digital labelling platform enables through a selection form to create and format the list for you to comply with the legislation. For example, ingredients will be listed by their functional category, with allergens formatted distinctly to differentiate them from the rest of the ingredient text.
Some of the other information required for nutrition labelling includes fats (total and saturated), carbohydrates, sugars, proteins and salt.
These are not measured in a typical chemical analysis of wine due to their high cost.
Based on the FIC regulation, with regard to the labeling of nutrition declaration values, the declared values may be average values, based on:
(a) the analysis of the food by the manufacturer
(b) the known or actual average values of the ingredients used; and
γ) the generally established and accepted data.
From the laboratory databases of chemical analyses of wines, provided that good production practices are followed, the generally defined and acceptable data for fat, protein and salt have been determined.
Fat
Based on laboratory data, none of the wines tested showed fat content in any of the categories tested.
The European fat guidelines state that levels of fat <0,5 g/100 mL may be reported as 0 g/100 mL.
For saturated fats the following is allowed statement 0 g/100 mL for levels < 0,1 g/100 mL.
Therefore, these data support the generic labeling of typical wines with 0 g/100 mL for both fat and saturated fat.
Proteins
For proteins, as would be expected, small amounts were detected, ranging in concentration from 0 to 0.4 g/100 mL.
Similarly to fats, European guidelines allow protein amounts below 0.5 g/100 mL be marked as 0 g/100 mL.
Therefore, the price seems appropriate 0 g/100 mL to be reasonable for typical wines.
It is important to note that these results, as mentioned, can be applied to typical wines, namely unfortified red, white and rosé wines with sugar levels between 0 and 12 g/L of sugars.
The data should not be extended to other wine styles or wine products without careful consideration.
Alas
Salt in the form of sodium chloride is not directly measured in wines. The general approach is to measure the sodium concentration in g/100 mL in wine and then express it as sodium chloride by multiplying it by 2,5.
Based on laboratory data a average salt value in wine is 0,013 g/100mL
The European guidelines (European Commission 2012) state that salt concentrations <0,0125 g/100 mL may be reported as 0 g/100 mL.
The average value for the wines in this dataset makes it difficult to propose a 0 g/100 mL declaration if almost half of the results fell above the threshold.
It could be argued, however, that the tolerance for measurement described in the 0,375 g/100 mL means that a result of 0 g/100 mL could be reported and easily fall within the tolerance.
This is an interpretation that could be open to debate and would entail some risk of controversy for the wine.
Instead, a safer approach would be to declare a result 0,03 g/100 mL of salt (based on the 95% of the data set) and given the tolerances allowed, this would easily cover all the wines in the survey.
This still represents a very low salt statement in terms of consumer intake. (The recommended daily sodium intake for people over 14 years of age is 2300 mg/day.)
Sugars and carbohydrates
All wines released into the European Union must provide a certificate of analysis including a value for sugar content as part of the export licence process.
Carbohydrates in wine are generally considered for the purposes of nutrition labelling in Europe to include the sugars, glycerol and acids present in wine.
Glycerin which can be easily measured also by FTIR method has standard values
- 0,5 g/100 mL for white wines and
- 1,0 g/100 mL for reds.
Finally, as defined in the guidance document (European Commission 2012) the tolerance for carbohydrate is 2.0 g/100 mL
Conclusion
With regard to fat, protein and salt in wines, based on the research data presented above and the published tolerances and rounding guidelines for data in European nutrition panels, it is easily defensible to label typical wines with 0 g/100 mL for fat, saturated fat and protein. In addition, the use of a value 0,03 g/100 mL for salt would present little risk of doubt and would easily fall within the published tolerances.
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Legislation/Guide to e-label (digital wine label using qr-codes)