News
- Alcohol producers failing to inform public
- Concern over alcohol-related deaths
- We need to make it easier for people to drink less
- Worrying rise in alcohol-related deaths
- Minimum pricing will save lives
- Pocket money prices for alcohol continue
- Scotland's alcohol problem laid bare
- Cheap alcohol is costing Scotland dear
- One drink a day can increase breast cancer risk
- Poverty linked to increased harm from alcohol
- What next for reducing alcohol harm in Scotland?
- Scotland must do more to turn tide of alcohol harm
- Concern as funding for alcohol services cut
- Budget: No change in alcohol duty
- Scottish Government urged to curb alcohol marketing
- Consumers have the right to know health risks
- Chancellor urged to tackle cheap, strong cider in Budget
- Online help for families affected by alcohol
- Alcohol-free childhood is healthiest option
- SWA granted leave to appeal minimum pricing
- Drink drive warning
- Scottish Greens call for action on alcohol marketing
- Scottish Government receives European alcohol award
- SWA will appeal to UK Supreme Court
- Half of alcohol being sold under 50p per unit
- SWA urged to respect minimum pricing decision
- Alcohol and mental health are closely linked
- Minimum pricing can be implemented in Scotland
- Alcohol sold at pocket money prices
- Scotland has so much to gain from reducing how much we drink
- AFS welcomes revised alcohol consumption guidelines
- Emergency services face shocking levels of alcohol abuse
- Every child has the right to grow up safe from alcohol harm
- Public health must prevail over big business
- New toolkit to help children affected by family alcohol problems
- Price check reveals cheap cost of strong alcohol
- Sales increase underlines need for minimum pricing
- Time to kick alcohol out of sport
- Alcohol linked with stomach cancer
- AFS calls for compulsory health warnings on alcoholic drinks
- Are supermarkets 'responsible retailers' when it comes to alcohol?
- Scottish health charities call for excise duty rise to tackle cheap alcohol
- Alcohol campaigners unite to call for stronger protection from alcohol advertising to children
- New resource for people concerned about alcohol in their community
- Minimum pricing decision delayed until summer
- No completely 'safe' level of drinking
- New alcohol guidelines published
- Minimum pricing - European court ruling
- Alcohol fuels ambulance assaults
- 82% of Scots agree drink driving is unacceptable
- Scotland's alcohol strategy - what next?
- Scotland leads way in evidence-based alcohol policy
- New report reveals impact of alcohol on emergency services
- Alcohol: a global concern
- Campaigners gather in Edinburgh for global alcohol conference
- Alcohol and pregnancy don't mix
- European Court minimum pricing opinion
- How much are we really drinking?
- Majority of Brits harmed by other people's drinking
- Interactive map of alcohol and tobacco outlets
- Help consumers make an informed choice about alcohol
Alcohol producers failing to inform public
Alcohol brands are failing to inform the public of the drinking guidelines and the health harms linked with alcohol, according to new research.
The research, outlined in a report from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA), looked at the information included on alcohol product labels. It was carried out in May this year, some 15 months after the updated guidelines were launched.
Read the report - Right to know: Are alcohol labels giving consumers the information they need? (pdf)
Researchers found that, of the 315 product labels reviewed across 27 locations in the UK, only one informed the public of the up-to-date low-risk drinking guideline of 14 units a week.
Where labels did contain information on the drinking guidelines, these guidelines were either out-of-date, or were the guidelines for the Republic of Ireland instead of the UK.
In addition, researchers found that no labels contained health warnings of the specific illnesses and diseases linked with alcohol.
The drinking guidelines were announced by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers in January 2016. The guidelines are based on the latest evidence linking alcohol to illnesses like cancer and heart disease, and are designed to enable people to make an informed choice about their drinking.
At present, there are few requirements for what should appear on alcohol product labels. Alcohol producers, under a system of self-regulation, decide what to include.
Releasing their research, the AHA said that tougher rules were needed on alcohol labelling, to make sure alcohol producers inform the public of the health harms linked with their products.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the AHA, said:
"There is something seriously wrong with the system when consumers in the UK are more likely to buy a product containing the Irish drinking guidelines rather than the current UK ones.
"Self-regulation has failed. Instead of alcohol producers deciding what to include on labels, the government should now require all labels to contain the latest guidelines and information on the health conditions linked with alcohol.
"Alcohol is linked with over 200 diseases and injury conditions, including cancer, heart disease and liver disease, yet awareness of these links is currently very low. We know, for example, that only 1 in 10 people are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer.
"The public have the right to know about the health impacts of alcohol, so that they are empowered to make informed choices about their drinking."
Alison Douglas, Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland said:
"This report clearly shows that relying on alcohol producers to communicate health information isn’t working.
"Consumers have the right to know what they’re drinking and the risks associated with alcohol consumption. Regularly drinking above the low-risk guidelines of 14 units per week increases the risk of cancer, stroke, liver disease and mental health problems.
"Manufacturers should be compelled to display prominent health warnings, along with information on ingredients, nutrition and calories on alcohol labels."