Experimental Report Beer and Health

H:Health,Nutrition,&Food

JFS H: Health, Nutrition, and Food

Beer Consumers’ Perceptions of theHealth Aspects of Alcoholic BeveragesC. A. WRIGHT, C. M. BRUHN, H. HEYMANN, AND C. W. BAMFORTH

ABSTRACT: Consumers’ perceptions about alcohol are shaped by numerous factors. This environment includesadvertisements, public service announcements, product labels, various health claims, and warnings about the dan-gers of alcohol consumption. This study used focus groups and questionnaires to examine consumers’ perceptionsof alcoholic beverages based on their nutritional value and health benefits. The overall purpose of this study was toexamine beer consumers’ perceptions of the health attributes and content of alcoholic beverages. Volunteers weresurveyed at large commercial breweries in California, Missouri, and New Hampshire. The anonymous, written sur-vey was presented in a self-explanatory format and was completed in 5 to 10 min. The content and style of the surveywere derived from focus groups conducted in California. The data are separated by location, gender, and over or un-der the age of 30. Parametric data on beverage rating were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) while thenonparametric data from True/False or Yes/No questions were analyzed using chi-square. Although statistically sig-nificant variances did exist between survey location, gender, and age, general trends emerged in areas of inquiry.The findings indicate that a great opportunity exists to inform consumers about the health benefits derived fromthe moderate consumption of all alcoholic beverages.

Keywords: alcohol, beer, consumer, nutrition, perceptions

Introduction

Are alcoholic beverages considered a food source or have theybeen stigmatized as dangerous substances, or something in

between? Beer has been a recognized part of the human diet since6000 B.C. It was produced in the cities of ancient Mesopotamia,by both the Egyptians and the Greeks, and was a part of the dietin the Roman Empire (Hughes and Baxter 2001). Wine has alsobeen produced since before recorded history in Asia Minor andthe Mediterranean basin. The practice of distilling beverages be-gan around 1400 (Kramer 1973). In the United States, prior to reg-ulations restricting the use of health claims, beer was described asa tonic, a health boosting beverage, and both “Health Beers” and“Vitamin Beers” were marketed. From 1920 to 1933, the manufac-turing and sale of alcohol was outlawed in the United States duringProhibition. In the United States, the Beverage Guidance Panel hasbeen formed to “provide guidance on the relative health and nu-tritional benefits and risks of various beverage categories” and to“help consumers select a variety of beverages” (Popkin and others2006). Recognizing the health benefits of the moderate consump-tion of alcohol, the Beverage Guidance Panel released the followingrecommendations in 2006 in their new proposed guidance systemfor beverages: “alcoholic beverages, 0 to 1 drinks/day for womenand 0 to 2 drinks/day for men.”

Since drinking alcoholic beverages has long been perceived asa social activity, can it ever be thought of as a healthy choice in thediet? Several studies have shown a J-shaped curve between numberof drinks consumed and mortality and morbidity, suggesting that

MS 20070483 Submitted 6/23/2007, Accepted 9/18/2007. Authors are withDept. of Food Science and Technology, Univ. of California, Davis, CA95616, U.S.A. Direct inquiries to author Bamforth (E-mail: [email protected]).

those who are moderate consumers of alcohol tend to have betterhealth and longer lives than heavy consumers or those who abstainfrom consuming alcohol (Bamforth 2004).

Although consumers have indicated taste as the most influ-ential factor when choosing a food or beverage (Glanz and oth-ers 1998), additional factors may be playing an unidentified role.Demographic variables such as age, level of education, income,ethnicity, and regional background also contribute to food andbeverage choices (Tepper and others 1997). It has also been ar-gued that consumers are heavily influenced by the foods and bev-erages they consumed while growing up and they use these tocreate standards of what is accepted as “good” over time (Choiand Stack 2005). The perceptions and choices of foods and bev-erages are also strongly influenced by the many classic com-binations in which they are served (Koster 2003), for example,wine and cheese, beer and pizza. We are unaware of publishedreports describing consumers’ perception of the health aspectsof alcoholic beverages or their understanding of the suitabilityof moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages in a healthydiet.

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of con-sumers’ perceptions of the place of beer and wine in a healthydiet. Responses from 3 geographical regions of the United Statesare collected and examined to identify national and/or regionalvariations. This study measures consumers’ perceptions of thehealthfulness of alcoholic beverages based upon their color orappearance; consumers’ drivers of choice for alcoholic bever-ages; consumers’ perceptions of the content of alcoholic bever-ages; consumers’ sources of nutritional and health information;the credibility of these sources of nutritional and health informa-tion; consumers’ beliefs about alcohol’s role in a healthy lifestyle;and the potential impact of nutritional and health information onconsumers’ actions.

H12 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Vol. 73, Nr. 1, 2008 C© 2007 Institute of Food Technologistsdoi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2007.00574.xFurther reproduction without permission is prohibited

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Beer consumers’ perceptions of alcoholic . . .

Materials and Methods

All surveys, questionnaires, and recruitment material were ap-proved by the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP)

and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Univ. of Califor-nia, Davis before being used. Focus groups were conducted by atrained moderator (Kreuger and Casey 2000) to gather informationto create a consumer survey which was delivered in 3 regions of theUnited States.

Focus groupsThe objectives of the focus group discussions were to deter-

mine (1) consumers’ perceptions about alcoholic beverages, (2) thesource of these perceptions, and (3) how these perceptions influ-enced beverage choices.

Community service groups from Davis and Woodland, Calif.,were approached to request participation in the focus groups. Stu-dents from the Univ. of California were intentionally not included inthe focus groups so views would not be limited to the college com-munity. The prospective participants were told the purpose andscope of the research. The participants were told that they wouldbe required to sign a consent form, and that the content of focusgroups would be audiotaped and transcribed. During recruitment,individuals were instructed to volunteer only if they were over theage of 21 and if they consumed at least 1 alcoholic beverage peryear. It was made clear that no drinking or tasting of alcoholic bev-erages would occur during the focus group. Demographic informa-tion other than gender was not collected from the participants inorder to protect their anonymity. A cash donation to the servicegroup for each participant was offered and the size of the groupswas limited to between 8 and 15 members.

The location for each of the focus groups was chosen basedon the following criteria: familiarity of the participants, adequatespace to accommodate participants, the ability to ensure partici-pants’ privacy, and sufficient parking facilities. Private residenceswere used for two of the focus groups, while a local restaurant andhospital served as the meeting places for the remaining 2 focusgroups.

A total of 4 focus groups were held between April and June 2005.Two researchers attended each focus group, the moderator and anassistant. Prior to beginning, the participants were required to signthe Experimental Subjects Bill of Rights and the consent form. Thefocus groups were held around a table with the assistant takingwritten notes to clarify and augment the audiotapes. The moder-ator led the group in discussion and followed a prepared set ofquestions. The participants were asked to respond verbally in orderfor their remarks to be recorded on tape. The moderator remainedneutral throughout the focus groups and did not try to educate theparticipants, influence their comments, or bias the responses inany way. The participants were engaged with the moderator andeach other during the focus groups and answered the questions ina candid fashion. Focus groups were continued until the type of an-swers and information gathered began to become repetitive. Thetotal duration of each focus group was approximately 60 min. Thetapes were then transcribed, omitting any names or other possiblecues that would jeopardize the participants’ anonymity. Themesidentified in the focus groups led directly to the style and contentof the consumer survey. The range of responses to each area of in-quiry was identified and questions written for the survey to deter-mine the prevalence of each view.

Consumer surveyTo recruit beer consumers, surveys were conducted at large com-

mercial breweries at 3 locations: northern California (West Coast),

eastern Missouri (Midwest), and southern New Hampshire (EastCoast). The hypothesis was that the majority of those visiting brew-eries would be beer consumers. Individuals were verbally screenedprior to volunteering by tour leaders at the participating breweries.The participants were asked if they were over 21 y of age and if theyconsumed at least 1 alcoholic beverage per year. The participantshad to answer yes to both questions in order to qualify for partici-pation.

Following the initial verbal screening, the participants wereasked to initial the survey to verify they were over 21 y of age.The survey was in a written, self-explanatory format and was de-signed to be anonymous. The participants were not required to signa consent form before participating to assure subject anonymity.A few brief questions were included at the beginning of the sur-vey to collect basic demographic information. Throughout the sur-vey, the participants were asked to indicate agreement or disagree-ment with different questions using a 5-point intensity scale witha rating of “1” indicating “not at all” and a rating of “5” indicat-ing “extremely.” Initially, volunteers rated the healthiness of 6 al-coholic beverages when consumed in moderation: (light coloredbeers, dark colored beers, red wines, white wines, “light” beers, andregular beers) using the same 5-point rating scale. Next, they ratedthe importance of 14 different items when choosing an alcoholicbeverage using the 5-point intensity scale. These items include situ-ational factors such as time of day, weather, and other foods that arebeing eaten, and beverage factors such as calories or alcoholic con-tent. People then indicate where they received most of their healthand nutrition by checking all relevant sources from a list of 12 gen-erated from the focus groups. A space was provided to write in anadditional source if desired. To gage volunteers’ knowledge of bev-erage content, they were asked to check a list of 11 possible “in-gredients” in 4 alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, tequila, and vodka).Volunteers were then asked to check if they believed that “moderateconsumption of alcohol can be good for your health,” by checkingTrue, False, or Unsure. They then rated the credibility of the state-ment if heard from 12 different sources using the 5-point scale, with“1” meaning “not at all credible,” and “5” meaning “extremely cred-ible.” Finally, people responded True or False to a series of state-ments about their personal beliefs about alcoholic beverages andhealth.

Both the parametric and nonparametric data were separated bylocation (West Coast, Midwest, East Coast), gender (male or fe-male), and age (over 30 or under 30). The time required to completethe survey was estimated to be between 5 and 10 min.

Data analysisResults from the ratings were analyzed by 3-way ANOVA to de-

termine significant effects by locations, genders, and age and theirinteractions. Mean ratings and the standard deviations (SD) werealso calculated and are included in the results.

The nonparametric data were analyzed using chi-square to de-termine if responses to the True/False or Yes/No questions dif-ferenced significantly by locations, genders, and age. The inter-actions of these variables for the nonparametric data were notexamined.

Results and Discussion

Atotal of 30 females and 4 males participated in 4 focus groups.For the survey, at the West Coast brewery, 99 (51 females, 48

males, age range 21 to 61+ y) subjects were surveyed. At the Mid-west brewery, 119 (64 females, 55 males, age range 21 to 61+ y) sub-jects were surveyed. At the East Coast brewery, 107 (49 females, 58males, age range 21 to 61+ y) subjects were surveyed. See Table 1

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for a demographic profile of the participants that participated inthe consumer survey.

The wines (red and white) were considered healthier than anyof the 4 beer classifications. The “light” beers and the light coloredbeers were perceived as healthier than the dark colored beers or theregular beers. See Table 2. Location and age and the interactionsbetween gender∗location, gender∗age, and age∗location were notsignificant, while between genders was a significant source of vari-ance. See Table 3. Overall, males and females rated the 6 alcoholicbeverages in the same order with red wine being the healthiest bev-erage.

The factors important in choosing a beverage were consistentacross location, age, and gender so the data from all 325 of theparticipants were combined. See Table 4. Overwhelmingly, tastewas the most influential factor when choosing an alcoholic bever-age. These results are similar to those found by other researchers(Glanz and others 1998). Importance of the variable, “who I amwith” was significantly greater (P < 0.05) for West Coast volunteers(3.46) compared to East Coast volunteers (2.94). Females were sig-nificantly (P < 0.05) more heavily influenced than males by the foodpairing, 3.27 for females compared to 2.99 for males, the time of day,3.63 for females compared to 3.29 for males, the number of calories,2.55 for females compared to 2.08 for males, location, 3.70 for fe-males compared to 3.34 for males, the number of carbohydrates,

Table 1 --- Participant profiles by location, gender, andage.

West Coast, n = 99 (30%)

Ages Males Females Total

21 to 30 21 20 4131+ 27 31 58Total 48 51 99

Midwest, n = 119 (37%)


21 to 30 18 33 5131+ 37 31 68Total 55 64 119

East Coast, n = 107 (33%)


21 to 30 19 15 3431+ 39 34 73Total 58 49 107

Total sample, n = 325


21 to 30 58 68 126 (39%)31+ 103 96 199 (61%)Total 161 (50%) 164 (50%) 325

Table 2 --- Mean ratings of the healthfulness of 6 alcoholicbeverages when consumed in moderation.

Male Female(n = 161) (n = 164) Statistically

Beverage Mean SD Mean SD Significant

Light colored beers 2.99 1.00 2.71 1.06 ∗∗

Dark colored beers 2.85 1.14 2.47 1.03 ∗∗

Red wines 3.68 1.06 3.65 1.11White wines 3.21 0.98 2.95 1.09 ∗∗

“Light” beers 3.12 1.05 2.84 1.11 ∗∗

Regular beers 2.85 1.01 2.46 1.05 ∗∗

∗∗Statistical significant P < 0.05.1 = not at all healthful /5 = extremely healthful.

2.15 for females compared to 1.88 for males, activity, 3.71 for fe-males compared to 3.4 for males, and who they are with 3.35 forfemales and 2.98 for males.

Factors that influence choice of beverage also varied by age. Peo-ple over the age of 30 compared to those under the age of 30 weresignificantly (P < 0.05) more influenced by the time of day, 3.60 forover 30 compared to 3.25 for under 30, the calorie content, 2.43 forover 30 compared to 2.14 for under 30, carbohydrate contents, 2.18for over 30 compared to 1.75 for under 30, the temperature outside,2.86 for over 30 compared to 2.46 for under 30, and how they feltafter consuming the beverage, 3.16 for over 30 compared to 2.83 forunder 20. Not surprisingly, males under the age of 30 were signifi-cantly (P < 0.05) more heavily influenced by the price of a beveragethan males over this age.

Due to similarity of response, data from all participants werecombined to rank the sources of nutritional and health infor-mation. See Table 5. The most important sources of nutritionalinformation were doctors and magazines, followed by family mem-bers, television, and the internet. Similar results were seen in a sur-vey across Europe where all participants were in general agreementthat health professionals were the most trusted source of informa-tion on healthy eating (Lappalainen and others 1998; American Di-etetic Assn. 2000). This sources of information list appears to bequite inclusive since only 4% of the participants indicated a sourceother than those provided on the survey. The most common re-sponse for “other” was the work place or technical reports.

The location, age, and gender were significant (P < 0.05) sourcesof variance. More consumers on the West Coast recorded that theyreceived nutritional information from doctors, 64% compared to

Table 3 --- Rankings of the healthfulness of 6 alcoholicbeverages when consumed in moderation based upon re-sponses from males and females.

Male Female(n = 161) (n = 164)

Beverage Rank Mean Mean

Red wines 1 3.68 3.65White wines 2 3.21 2.95“Light” beers 3 3.12 2.84Light colored beers 4 2.99 2.71Dark colored beers 5 2.85 2.47Regular beers 6 2.85 2.46

1 = not at all healthful /5 = extremely healthful.

Table 4 --- Rank of the importance of 14 factors whenchoosing an alcoholic beverage.

All participants(n = 325)

Influence Rank Mean

Taste 1 4.54Activity 2 3.55Location 3 3.52Time of day 4 3.46Price 5 3.23Company with me 6 3.17Food pairing 7 3.13After feelings 8 3.03Alcohol content 9 2.73Serving size 10 2.72Weather 11 2.70Calories 12 2.32Healthy 13 2.11Carbohydrates 14 2.01

1 = not an important influence /5 = extremely important influence.

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consumers in the Midwest and East Coast where 49% cited doc-tors. More Midwest or East Coast consumers indicated that they re-ceived health information from magazines (50% and 52%, respec-tively) compared to West Coast consumers (35%). Females weremore likely to use books as a source of information (36%) thanmales (21%). Those consumers over the age of 30 received more in-formation from newspapers, 34%, and doctors, 59%, than youngerconsumers (22% reported newspapers and 44% doctors). Youngervolunteers relied more on school, with 35% indicating this wasan important information source compared to 12% who checkedschool among volunteers over the age of 30.

The mean number of sources where participants receive theirhealth and nutritional information was 3.8. This was fairly consis-tent across all participant categories. See Table 6. That most peopleuse several sources of information and look for consensus is con-sistent with consumer approaches in other areas of health (Bruhnand others 2002).

People’s knowledge of the content of alcoholic beverages waslimited. People correctly noted that wine, beer, tequila, and vodkacontained alcohol; however, fewer, from 65% to 94% recognizedthat these products contain carbohydrates. More people associ-ated carbohydrates with beer than with the other beverages. Winewas correctly identified by 66% as containing antioxidants, whileonly 23% realized that beer contained antioxidants. Similarly, al-most half, 49%, realized that wine contained vitamins and miner-als, while only 38% attributed these nutrients to beer. While lowlevels of sugar can be found in some wines, 74% of consumers be-lieve that wine contains sugar. Consumers incorrectly attributed ahost of components to the 4 beverages, including preservatives, ar-tificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners and artificial colorings, satu-rated fat, and transfat.

In general, location and gender were not sources of variances inthese results. The majority of the differences in perceptions werefound between age groups. See Table 7. Significantly more con-sumers under the age of 30 believed that wine contained vitamins

Table 5 --- Rank order of the most frequent source forhealth and nutritional information based upon the fre-quency recorded by all participants.

All participants (n = 325)

Influence Rank Percent (%)

Doctor 1 53Magazines 2 46Family 3 40TV 4 39Internet 5 37Friends 6 30Newspapers 7 29Books 8 29Ads 9 22School 10 21Radio 11 16Coworkers 12 14Other 13 4

Table 6 --- Mean number of sources for health and nutri-tional information.

Mean SD

West Coast 3.72 2.17Midwest 3.92 2.39East Coast 3.74 1.96Males 3.65 2.09Females 3.95 2.27Under 30 3.94 2.28Over 30 3.71 2.12

Table 7 --- The percentage of participants indicating thatwine, beer, tequila, or vodka contained one of the 11items listed.

(a)

Under 30 Over 30 StatisticallyContents of wine (n = 126) (n = 199) significant

Percent (%) Percent (%)

Alcohol 95 87 ∗∗

Carbohydrates 79 70Sugar 74 69Antioxidants 66 56Vitamins & minerals 49 35 ∗∗

Preservatives 42 43Artificial sweeteners 33 9 ∗∗

Artificial flavorings 27 15 ∗∗

Artificial colorings 24 25Transfat 14 11Saturated fat 13 8

(b)

Under 30 Over 30 StatisticallyContents of beer (n = 126) (n = 199) significant


Alcohol 96 89Carbohydrates 94 90Sugar 61 49 ∗∗

Preservatives 45 32 ∗∗

Vitamins & minerals 38 30Transfat 33 20 ∗∗

Saturated fat 30 13 ∗∗


Antioxidants 23 16Artificial colorings 21 18Artificial sweeteners 21 6 ∗∗

(c)

Under 30 Over 30 StatisticallyContents of tequila (n = 126) (n = 199) significant


Alcohol 96 89Carbohydrates 65 53 ∗∗

Sugar 48 34 ∗∗



Artificial colorings 21 13Artificial sweeteners 21 11 ∗∗


Vitamins & minerals 13 7Transfat 12 8Antioxidants 11 10

(d)

Under 30 Over 30 StatisticallyContents of vodka (n = 126) (n = 199) significant


Alcohol 95 88 ∗∗

Carbohydrates 61 52Sugar 44 33Artificial flavorings 37 16 ∗∗


Artificial sweeteners 29 7 ∗∗


Antioxidants 11 8Artificial colorings 11 2 ∗∗

Vitamins & minerals 10 7Transfat 10 6

∗∗Statistically significant variance at P < 0.05.




and minerals, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, and alcoholthan consumers over the age of 30. Significantly, more consumersunder the age of 30 believed that beer contained sugar, preser-vatives, trans fat, artificial flavorings, saturated fat, and artificialsweeteners than consumers over the age of 30. In addition, signif-icantly more consumers under the age of 30 believed that tequilacontained sugar, preservatives, artificial flavorings, saturated fat,artificial sweeteners, and carbohydrates than consumers over theage of 30. Significantly, more consumers under the age of 30 be-lieved that vodka contained artificial colorings, preservatives, artifi-cial flavorings, saturated fat, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol thanconsumers over the age of 30.

The responses to this question clearly indicate consumer con-fusion and misperceptions about the actual contents of alcoholicbeverages. These findings are possibly linked to the lack of nutri-tional labeling allowed on alcoholic beverages and to the variousdiet books and weight loss articles that make inaccurate claimsabout alcoholic beverages.

The majority of volunteers, 75%, believed that the moderate con-sumption of alcohol can be beneficial to your health. Fewer than 3%of the consumers believed that this statement to be false and 22%were not sure how they felt about the statement. Location, age, andgender were not significant sources of variances. It is important tonote that a definition of “moderate consumption” was not providednor was the source of the alcohol specified. These findings indicatethat the majority of these consumers who take at lease one drinka year believe that alcohol can provide some health benefits whenconsumed in moderation.

Professionals, scientific studies, and school or classes werefound to be the most credible sources of information. See Table 8.The beverage industry itself, while ranking in the bottom half, wasperceived as a more credible source for information than the inter-net, advertisements, or Oprah. Interestingly, more than one-third(37%) of the participants identified the internet as a source of nu-tritional or health information but it was ranked 10 out of 12 forcredibility.

The location, age, and gender were significant (P < 0.05) sourcesof variances. Consumers on the West Coast and in the Midwestfound professionals such as doctors, nurses, and nutritionist morecredible than consumers on the East Coast with a mean rating of3.96 and 4.06 compared to 3.66, respectively. Consumers in theMidwest found scientific studies to be more credible than con-sumers on the East or West Coast with a mean rating of 3.75 com-pared to 3.28 and 3.44, respectively. Not surprisingly, females foundthe television show Oprah to be a more credible source than maleswith a mean credibility rating of 2.23 from females compared to

Table 8 --- Credibility rankings of 12 sources of nutritionaland health information.


Source Rank Mean

Health professional 1 3.90Scientific study 2 3.50School 3 3.27Multiple times 4 3.16News 5 3.06Magazine 6 2.78Government 7 2.63People 8 2.57Beverage industry 9 2.37Internet 10 2.30Advertisements 11 2.19Oprah 12 2.05

1 = not at all credible/ 5 = extremely credible.

1.86 from males. Consumers under the age of 30 found school,the government, and other people such as family members andfriends as more credible than consumers over the age of 30 witha rating of 2.90 for government and 2.70 for friends by youngerpeople compared to 2.46 and 2.49 for these sources by peopleover 30.

A large portion of the participants surveyed (78%) stated thatthey try to follow a healthy and balanced diet. See Table 9. Thisresponse should not be taken literally, as people may respondin a socially desirable manner and overstate their actual compli-ance with recommended behavior. People admitted that bever-age healthiness has little impact on beverage choice according to65% of those surveyed. This is consistent with consumer indica-tion of taste as the number one driver of choice while health im-pact was ranked 13 out of 14 choices. This sentiment is reinforcedas 82% of the participants agreed that they drink the alcoholic bev-erage they like and do not worry about nutritional value. Only 14%of the participants stated that alcoholic beverages cannot be partof a healthy lifestyle. More than half of all the participants (61%)stated that they were loyal to a particular brand or type of alcoholicbeverage.

Location and gender were significant sources of variances whileage was not a significant (P < 0.05) source of variance. More maleconsumers, 67%, were loyal to a brand or type of alcoholic beveragethan females, 55%, while more females generally tried to follow ahealthy and balanced diet, 87%, compared to males at 70%.

Conclusions

Since no previous work has been reported on consumer atti-tudes toward alcoholic beverages, the 4 focus groups were es-

sential to open a window into consumers’ perceptions. Becausethe survey was designed around attitudes expressed in the focusgroups, the findings represent a consumer driven investigation offactors that influence perceptions of alcoholic beverages.

Although the results from the consumer survey show that sta-tistically significant variances exist between location, gender, andage, general trends were identified. Overall, males and females per-ceive red wine as the healthiest alcoholic beverage. In general, menrated alcoholic beverages as more healthful than women. Over-whelmingly, taste was identified as the leading driver of choicewhen choosing an alcoholic beverage followed by location andactivity. On average, consumers receive information about healthand nutrition from about 4 sources. More than half of all con-sumers identified their doctor as a source of nutritional and healthinformation. In general, consumers over the age of 30 are moreaccurately informed about the contents of alcoholic beveragesthan consumers under the age of 30. The fact that beer contains

Table 9 --- Agreement that the statement is true, all par-ticipants.


Statement Percent (%) true

I drink the alcoholic beverages I like anddo not worry about their nutritionalvalues.

82

I generally try to follow a healthy andbalanced diet.

78

The healthiness of beverages has littleimpact on my beverage choices.

65

I am loyal to my favorite brand or type ofalcoholic beverage.

61

Alcoholic beverages cannot be part of ahealthy lifestyle.

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carbohydrates is almost universally known. The lack of nutritionallabeling on alcoholic beverages may be the source of confusion andmisperceptions of consumers about the actual contents of alco-holic beverages. Consumers are making beverage choices basedupon product taste and situational factors, with limited under-standing of the nutritional content of the beverages chosen. A largeopportunity exists to inform consumers about the actual contentof the beverages they select. In a community that values informedchoice, the failure to permit nutritional information due to federalregulations has led to a misinformed public.

Overwhelmingly, consumers who currently have at least 1 drinka year believe that the moderate consumption of alcohol can begood for their health. Consumers rated professionals, scientificstudies, and classes or school as the most credible sources of nu-tritional information about alcoholic beverages. The participantsrated the beverage industry, the internet, and advertisements, asthe least credible sources of nutritional information about alco-holic beverages. Although the latter were considered less credi-ble sources, they were still used by consumers. In general, con-sumers of alcoholic beverages are brand loyal, consider themselvesto be following a healthy and balanced diet, and believe that al-cohol can be part of that healthy diet. The participants say thatthey drink what they like and do not concern themselves withthe healthfulness or nutritional value of alcoholic beverages. Nev-ertheless, consumer perception of healthfulness changed whenprovided with nutritional information (Wright and others 2007)and focus group comments indicated that attitudes toward bev-erages would be influenced by health information. This suggeststhat nutritional information could have a positive impact on con-sumer perceptions, but a more limited influence on actual beverageselection.

AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank the breweries that allowed us to use theirfacilities to conduct the consumer surveys used in this study. Weare also thankful to those individuals who participated in the fo-cus groups for their candid answers and their willingness to sharetheir thoughts. We thank the Brian Williams Scholarship Fund ofthe American Society of Brewing Chemists for helping to financethis research.

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Experimental Report Beer and Health