www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Warning labels aimed at pregnant women will be added to all alcohol products in New Zealand and Australia.

The Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Council on Food Regulation agreed to introduce labelling telling of the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy at a Melbourne meeting last week in response to the recommendations of the independent Food Policy and Labelling Review.
The labelling will be regulated in two year’s time. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 12/20/11) nzherald.co.nz, 12/16/11

HEALTH warnings linking alcohol with dire outcomes such as brain damage and cancer have been backed by health groups but described as potentially “alarming“ by an industry-backed group.
The fight over safety labels between the health sector and the multibillion-dollar liquor industry is warming up just as the federal government finally begins formal consultations today on long-awaited warnings, introduced in the United States 22 years ago.
The federally-funded Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation yesterday released its favoured warnings, including: “Drinking alcohol increases your risk of developing cancers“ and “drinking alcohol damages the young developing brain“. .. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/18/11)

Brussels, 5 July 2011 Eurocare Press Release:
Exemption of alcohol from Food Information to Consumers Provision
Eurocare (European Alcohol Policy Alliance) is extremely disappointed with the shape of the Food Information to Consumers legislation which exempts alcoholic beverages from obligation to list its content. This is despite the fact that alcohol is high in calorie content, carbohydrates and certain ingredients used in its production can cause allergies or intolerances. We strongly believe that we all have the right to make informed choices and the current proposal will mean that one will know what is in a bottle of a fruit juice but not in a bottle of alcoholic beverage.
Providing information (about ingredients and energy value per 100ml) would allow consumers to assess the quality of the beverages and keep track of their calorie intake.
Marian Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, says: ‘We are very disappointed and concerned about the exemption of alcohol from providing information to consumers. Labelling alcoholic drinks would allow consumers to make an informed choice about their diet and health. This is a bitter reminder about the influence of the powerful industry lobbying on the politicians and their failure to give priority to interest of the
people. It really makes us all wonder what is in our drinks, that the industry is so afraid to tell us’. The European Parliament’s decision is not only ignoring the health and letting people take their own informed choice but it is also not in line with EU’s previous declarations. As stated in the EU Alcohol Strategy launched in October 2006: ‘Citizens have the right to obtain relevant information on the impact, and in particular
on the risks and consequences related to harmful and hazardous consumption of alcohol, and to obtain more detailed information on added ingredients that may be harmful to the health of certain groups of consumers’.

The Australian government should put warning labels on alcohol in conjunction with a broad public health campaign addressing alcohol use, according to an advisory panel, The Age reported Jan. 29.
Dr. Neal Blewett, a former health minister, led the panel of experts reviewing the issue. According to The Age, the panel recommended text warnings, like „Alcohol can damage your health“ and „Drinking to excess is a danger to yourself and those around you.“ (Source: Join Together, 02/09/11)

Eurocare (European Alcohol Policy Alliance) has issued today an open letter of support for the Thai government for its plans to introduce alcohol health warnings labels on packages of alcoholic beverages.
In January this year Thailand has notified the WTO (Committee on Technical Barrier to Trade) about plans to introduce rotating pictorial warnings on alcoholic beverages contained in different types of containers. The proposal includes:
* picture printed in 4 colours and 6 types of which one of them is required to be rotated at 1,000 package intervals.
* 6 types of health warning messages
* they should cover at least 30% of package
* prohibition of suggesting on labels that alcohol can improve better health
In the open letter Eurocare expressed its support for the initiative of placing health warning labels on alcoholic beverages and congratulated the Thai government for its courage and willingness to take this step to tackle alcohol related harm.
The significance of the economic costs of ill health has been acknowledged not only by public health community but also economic agencies such as the World Economic Forum in its publication “Global Risks 2010”. Chronic diseases were placed as one of the top most severe risks facing the world. They scored very high on likelihood and severity indicators . Alcohol is the 3rd main contributory factor globally to chronic diseases (it ranks 2nd in middle income countries and 1st in high income countries) . … (Source: Eurocare, 10/28/10)

Various state attorneys general and advocacy groups in the USA are calling for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to ban caffeine-infused alcohol drinks from the market — or at a minimum add warning labels stating that combining caffeine and alcohol can cause health risks. (Source: Join Together, 8/9/09)

Flavored alcoholic beverages or alcopops are becoming more popular, especially among young people, and it’s raising people’s concerns about underage drinking.
According to a report released, 52 percent of adults believe definitely or probably that alcopops encourage underage drinking. The report also finds that because these often fruity, fizzy, pop-like drinks can be easily confused with non-alcoholic beverages, 92 percent of adults strongly support the use of warning labels on alcopops. Most adults also support greater restrictions on advertising that focuses on youth. (Source: Medical News Today, 4/7/09)

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