PUBLISHED 5/01/08 ---

That case of soda pop you’ve just thrown into your shopping cart lists all of the relevant ingredients and nutritional facts: sugar, carbohydrate, caffeine. Ditto for the frozen pizza: fat grams, sodium, cholesterol.

But that six-pack of Budweiser? Take a guess. That fifth of bourbon? Fill in the blanks yourself. Brewers, distillers and vintners are not bound by the same labeling requirements as producers of other foods and beverages.

Health and consumer groups would like to change that. Last month they called upon the government to require alcoholic beverages to carry nutrition labeling similar to what other products must carry.

Now is the time to institute that change. Last July, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposed listing calories and nutrients on beverage labels. But the ATTTB, a division of the Treasury Department, declined to require companies to list the amount of alcohol.

Many alcoholic beverages carry government warnings concerning the dangers of drinking while pregnant, and some list calories, but that’s only on a voluntary basis.

Giving consumers more information about alcohol content (as well as “standard” drink size, another variable that affects consumption) would help prevent excessive drinking and protect public health.

Even the Distilled Spirits Council, an industry trade group, supports stricter labeling for alcoholic beverages.

“Knowing how much alcohol is in a serving of beer, wine, or spirits and how that alcohol content relates to a standard drink helps consumers make responsible drinking decisions,” Peter H. Cressy, the group’s president, said in the statement.

We agree.

The amount of alcohol per serving should be on all “nutritional facts” labels, not merely the amount of calories, fat, carbohydrate and protein.