Methodist Church backs push for alcohol labelling

The Methodist Church has come out in support of proposals for compulsory health warnings on all alcoholic drinks.

Ministers are considering making the health warnings compulsory after a Department of Health report released yesterday found that only 15 per cent of alcoholic drinks are carrying warning messages under the terms of a voluntary agreement reached between the Government and the drinks industry in 2007.

The voluntary labels should include the number of units contained in the product, guidelines on the recommended number of units a day for men and women, and the web address of the Drinkaware Trust.

Although the number of drinks carrying the warnings has increased from 6% in 2008, the Government report estimated that only 19% of drinks would carry labels by the end of the year.

Public health minister Gillian Merron commended brands like Foster’s, Kronenbourg and major supermarkets for their “responsible efforts” in placing labels on their products. She said, however, that overall progress had been “disappointing”.

David Bradwell, policy adviser for the Methodist Church in Britain, said people should be aware of how many units were in each alcoholic product and the health risks so that they could make an informed choice about what and how much to drink.

“There has been very slow progress with the voluntary labelling scheme, where the onus for action is left to producers. But because responsible marketing is not a priority for many alcohol producers, mandatory labelling has to be the answer,” he said.

The Methodist Church said warning labels on drinks would not be enough to tackle Britain’s binge drinking culture and that the Government needed to introduce minimum pricing on the sale of each unit of alcohol. A minimum price on alcohol units would effectively end buy-one-get-one-free and other offers on drink.

“Cheap booze blights lives,” Mr Bradwell added. “We need radical action to tackle the devastation caused by alcohol abuse.”

The Government has refused to give its backing to calls from the chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson to introduce minimum prices for alcohol. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said it would punish the “sensible majority of moderate drinkers”.

The Scottish Government plans to introduce a minimum price on alcohol but faces the challenge of whether the measure is legal under European law. If the plan succeeds, it would make Scotland the first country in the world to have a minimum price on alcohol.

The measure has been backed by the Church of Scotland, which has said people should be willing to pay more for alcoholic drinks “if it means that the nation gets healthier”.

According to Alcohol Focus Scotland, one in three men and one in four women exceed recommended daily limits, while in England, one in three men and one in five women drink more than the recommended daily limits, according to the NHS.