Alcohol risk message given thumbs-down

By CHRIS DANIELS consumer reporter

Attempts to put warning labels on alcohol bottles, cans and other containers have suffered another setback.

The Australian New Zealand Food Authority (Anzfa) has declined an application from an Australian health group for labels that say, "This product contains alcohol. Alcohol is a dangerous drug," on all alcohol containers.

Had it approved the request, liquor containers in New Zealand would have had to carry the warnings.

In its decision announced this week, Anzfa said labels might increase awareness, but this would not necessarily change any behaviour from "at-risk" groups.

Health researchers in New Zealand are disappointed by the decision, saying labels on alcohol containers would be useful in reducing alcohol harm to adults and babies.

Anzfa said there were known benefits from moderate drinking, so it would be hard to devise a simple, accurate label for bottles and cans.

Available scientific and medical advice suggested "there was no evidence that light drinking by pregnant women harms the foetus." Comparisons with warnings on tobacco were not valid, as there was no safe level of consumption for tobacco, but there was for alcohol.

Drinking levels were dropping anyway, without the labels.

The national coordinator of the Foetal Alcohol New Zealand Trust, Christine Rogan, said downward trends in alcohol drinking were per head, and did not reflect the increased binge drinking among young women.

"You have to start with the product in the consumer's hands. It is education."

People had the right to be informed about the dangers of alcohol to the foetus and there was a surprising level of ignorance about the risks.

A research fellow at Alcohol and Public Research Unit of the Auckland University School of Medicine, Dr Linda Hill, said the Anzfa report overstated the health benefits of alcohol.

Most studies showed there was some benefit to middle-aged men suffering from heart disease, but no benefit, or increased risk, to younger people of both sexes.

Research from the US, which had compulsory health warnings on alcohol containers, showed they had made a positive difference, raising awareness of alcohol-related risks.

The Beer Wine and Spirits Council argued against labels in a submission to Anzfa last year.

It said there was a "wealth of international research indicating that those who need health warnings the most - the minority of drinkers who abuse alcohol - do not heed the message.

"It is a well-documented fact that drinking alcohol in moderation has health benefits - therefore it is wrong to simply claim that alcohol is a dangerous drug."

The warning label carried "very negative connotations about the safety of alcoholic beverages, which may be interpreted as alarmist and misleading."

Labour List MP Dianne Yates, who has a member's bill before Parliament that would require alcohol labelling, said the Anzfa decision was an unsubstantiated document.

"They've had two years to come up with a three-page report that is pretty useless. If we can have warnings on cigarettes to prevent cancer in adults, why not liquor warnings to prevent birth defects in babies?"