Alcohol health warnings announced » Health » 24dash.com

New warning labels are to be carried on alcoholic drinks under a new Government scheme announced today.

In a voluntary agreement between ministers and the industry, all drinks will be expected to carry details of units and recommended safe drinking levels on their labels by the end of 2008.

At present, bottles and cans carry percentage details of alcohol and most carry unit information.

But the Government now wants safety advice for pregnant women put on there as well as the recommendations for safe drinking.

One unit is equivalent to a small glass of wine, half a pint of beer or one pub measure of spirits.

The Government recommends that men do not regularly exceed three or four units a day and women do not exceed two or three units a day.

The move comes amid fears about the rise in binge drinking and an increase in alcohol-related diseases and death.

Last week, the Government issued new guidance saying pregnant women and those trying to conceive should not drink at all.

The new labels will include the drink's unit content and the recommended safe drinking levels.

For beer, wines and spirits, unit information will be given per glass and per bottle.

The charity website - www.drinkaware.co.uk - will also be included on the labels.

The Government said it would ask manufacturers to include the words "avoid alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive".

Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "This landmark, voluntary agreement will help people calculate, at a glance, how much they are drinking and whether they are staying within sensible drinking guidelines.

"We want to make it as simple as possible for people to keep an eye on how much they are drinking and help them take the responsibility for lessening the impact excess alcohol can have on their health.

"Although most spirits and beer labels for sale in the UK market and many supermarkets' own brands of beers, wines and spirits, do carry some information on unit content, people can miscalculate and lose track of how much they are drinking.

"Unit information combined with sensible drinking guidelines on the new labels will make it simpler for people to calculate how many units they are drinking and make easier for them to stick to the recommended limits.

"I would like to pay tribute to the drinks industry for their commitment to promoting a responsible drinking culture.

"We will continue to work closely with them on the voluntary introduction of this new labelling information and will monitor the effect of the agreement on people's drinking habits."

British Retail Consortium (BRC) director general Kevin Hawkins said: "This is yet another practical demonstration of retailers' responsible attitude to selling alcohol.

"They have been actively involved in the development of this label and the concise and simple way it sets out information gives consumers an easy way to make informed decisions about how they enjoy alcohol.

"The BRC and its members will continue to look at new ways to promote healthy lifestyles."

A spokesman for the Portman group said its members, which represent more than 60% of beer, wine and spirits manufacturers in the UK, already carry unit information.

Around 85% of beer manufacturers already carry unit details on their labels.

Kevin Byrne, interim chief executive of Drinkaware, said: "We welcome the new labelling on alcoholic drinks.

"We hope that by providing consumers with more readily accessible information, it will enable them to make better choices about how often and how much they drink."

Government research shows that 86% of people know units are a measure of alcohol and 69% know the recommended limits.

However, only 13% keep a check on the number of units they drink each week.

Three quarters (75%) of people support the idea of labelling, Government surveys have shown.

The move will be supported with a new campaign next year to raise awareness of unit measurements.

Last week, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of alcohol-related deaths has more than doubled in men since 1993.

In 1993, 1,776 men died from alcohol-related disease, rising to 3,884 in 2005.

In 1993, 1,049 women died from alcohol-related disease, rising 67% to 1,873 in 2005.

However, the statistics relate only to the number of death certificates where conditions linked to alcohol are specifically mentioned, such as cirrhosis of the liver.

Charities have put the real figure at more than 22,000 premature deaths a year and, three years ago, Government estimates ran at 16,000 to 22,000 deaths a year.

The charity Alcohol Concern estimates that 60 people die every day from alcohol-related illnesses.

Copyright - Press Association 2007

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