Drinks industry leaders are urging the government not to “move the goalposts” after the Department of Health told The Grocer it was pushing ahead with plans for alcoholic drinks to carry calorie labels.

The government wants to make calorie labelling one of the next phases of its Responsibility Deal and said negotiations to “take forward” the idea had already begun.

A Department of Health spokesman said it planned to introduce “more information on alcoholic drinks including calorie labelling”.

The government is also pressing the European Commission, which is conducting a review on nutrition labelling for alcoholic drinks, to make calorie labelling mandatory across Europe when it publishes its proposals next year.

However, The Portman Group, which is representing the drinks industry in the talks, said the move was a step too far, with companies already beating targets set in a previous Responsibility Deal pledge to improve information, including labelling on units and health warnings.

“The drinks industry is well on track to deliver on its commitment to the labelling pledge,” said Portman Group chief executive Henry Ashworth. “Moving the goalposts at this stage of the process to include calorie information on labels would be counterproductive.

“There may be other ways of helping people become aware of calories and we welcome discussion of this,” he added.

Meanwhile, Asda’s corporate responsibility director Paul Kelly has urged the government to drop its plans for minimum pricing and instead “breathe new life into the Responsibility Deal”.

Kelly told policy makers in Westminster last week that the government’s plans could be slowed by legal battles, and more progress could be achieved by working with the industry.

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