# Bacardi commercial - no carbs or calories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537 "2004-07-11T06:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/1 "2004-07-11T06:05:11Z")
Just a quick question… I recently saw a commercial for Bacardi that claims that a rum and diet coke has no carbs and no calories. How is that possible? I thought all alcohol, especially one made from sugar would contain calories. Is this commercial misleading or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/2 "2004-07-11T06:14:25Z")
It may not have any carbs, or at least no carbs as defined by the Atkins diet, but all ethanol (the alcohol you drink) definitely contains calories. (A quick google search says that one ounce of 80 proof rum has 64 calories.) Anything that can get you drunk is going to have ethanol in it, and your body can break down ethanol into fuel, ie calories. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/3 "2004-07-11T06:16:23Z")
Thank you for the info. I wonder how the commercial is able to get away with this claim? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/4 "2004-07-11T12:21:46Z")
IIRC ethanol has its own category according to the FDA. Therefore according to the government alcohol has no carbs. :rolleyes: hooray for slimey advertising… well, to be fair, I think they might use splenda too or something to sweeten it a little bit. I’m not sure, haven’t had a bottle in a long while. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/5 "2004-07-11T12:54:04Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > IIRC ethanol has its own category according to the FDA. Therefore according to the government alcohol has no carbs. :rolleyes: Well, ethanol is not a carbohydrate. To say that ethanol has no carbs is not a bureaucratic name game, it is simply true by definition. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/6 "2004-07-11T13:00:08Z")
I just hopped over to the Bacardi website. They have a Flash ad for the same drink. The ad says, in huge letters, “0 Carbs, 0 Sugar, 66 Calories”. This seems like an accurate claim, on the face of it, and certainly one that can be used in an effective ad. My personal preference is for a rum and tonic, which you could make a diet drink by using diet tonic. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/7 "2004-07-11T14:07:37Z")
IIRC, ethanol has about 7 calories/gram. So if an ounce of 80 proof liquor has no carbs and 66 calories, it must have about 9 grams of ethanol (assuming it contains no fats or proteins, which is probably reasonable). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/8 "2004-07-11T17:49:16Z")
Hope I’m not hijacking your thread, but I have a closely related quetion: I’ve noticed certain products advertising that they have “no \*\*net \*\* carbs” recently Anyone know what the hell the differnence is between “carbs” and “net carbs”? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/9 "2004-07-11T18:16:44Z")
A quick answer to the hijack: Net carbs are total carbs minus dietary fiber (can’t digest 'em). Pop into any of the atkins threads and get a more complete answer. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/10 "2004-07-12T00:57:50Z")
> [@Dr. Lao](#): > > Well, ethanol is not a carbohydrate. To say that ethanol has no carbs is not a bureaucratic name game, it is simply true by definition. oops, I stand corrected. Perhaps it was the calories portion that was a loop hole? ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacardi-commercial-no-carbs-or-calories/254537/11 "2004-07-12T01:54:28Z")
Alcohol is not regulated by the FDA, it’s regulated by TTB, or Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau (the A & T in the former BATF.) TTB recently passed a ruling regarding “low-carb” labelling and advertising. Read more [here](http://www.ttb.gov/ttb_ruling2004-1_faq.htm).