Vodka Nutrition Facts: What You Need to Know

Does vodka fit your calorie and nutrition goals, whether straight or mixed? It’s hard to tell without a nutrition label, but there are some surprising facts about this clear drink.

Have you ever wondered “Hey, what’s the nutrient content of these shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots (everybody)??”

If you’re tracking your food and bevvy intake, you might be wondering how alcoholic drinks — like vodka — fit into the mix.

Straight vodka is just alcohol and water, so it only contains calories from alcohol (which provides 7 cals per gram, BTW). However, things can get a little more complicated when you’re making mixed drinks or knocking back flavored vodka shots.

Here’s what you need to know about vodka nutrition.

What is vodka?

Vodka is a clear liquor made from fermented grains, like rye or wheat. It can also be made from potatoes, and — well — pretty much anything. Where there’s a will, there’s a way to make vodka. (Don’t try this at home, though.)

In the U.S., vodka must be at least 80 proof — meaning it contains at least 40 percent alcohol.

Vodka is really, really, really popular, and it can be taken straight as a shot, used in cooking, or used in mixed drinks like cosmos, screwdrivers, and white Russians.

Why is vodka nutrition info so hard to find?

You won’t find nutrition info for vodka directly on the bottle, and that’s because — unlike food and nonalcoholic beverages — alcohol isn’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. (Instead, it’s regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.)

For this reason, nutrition facts and ingredient labels aren’t required.

And that means you, the consumer, get to play the least fun drinking game of all time: an internet scavenger hunt for vodka nutrition facts.

What’s in vodka?

Unflavored vodka contains two things: water and ethanol (alcohol).

On its own, it doesn’t contain any sugar, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Some varieties may contain trace amounts of impurities, but these wouldn’t be significant enough to affect the nutrient content.

However, flavored vodkas are pretty popular too — with flavors ranging from grapefruit (interesting) to birthday cake (oh, it’s gonna be a happy birthday all right).

And, although you might be unaware because there’s no nutrition facts label or ingredient disclosure on the bottle, they can be LOADED with added sugar.

For instance, the Smirnoff brand has a huge assortment of flavored vodkas, and viewing their website or studying a bottle gives you absolutely no indication of if a given flavored vodka contains sugar or how much it contains.

However, they also have a Zero Sugar Infusions line, which is a line of flavored vodkas with no sugar. And that means you can safely assume that every other flavored vodka they offer contains sugar.

There’s just no way to know the exact calorie and sugar counts for each brand and flavor of vodka without directly contacting the manufacturer. Talk about a buzz-kill.