Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education
(asked on 19th February 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of 17 January 2019, Official Report, column 1431, on Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, what steps the Government plans to take after September 2019 in the event that the alcohol industry does not update alcohol labelling to (a) reflect the low-risk drinking guidelines and (b) remove the old drinking guidelines; and if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals relating to such labelling in the event that the alcohol industry fails to meet those requirements by that deadline.
In March 2017, the Department issued guidance to the public and industry setting out how the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) low risk drinking guidelines can best be communicated on the labels of alcoholic drinks to the public. The Department agreed a transitional period with industry until 1 September 2019 to reflect the new guidelines.
The Food Standards Agency issued a note on the 7 September 2017 to Heads of Environmental Health Service and Directors of Trading Standards Services that no action is taken before the 1 September 2019 against manufacturers or retailers who continue to provide previous CMO advice as voluntary information on pre-packaged alcoholic beverages. The note is available at the following link:
Increasingly alcohol labels are reflecting the new guidelines. Officials have recently written to the alcohol industry trade bodies to remind them of the 1 September 2019 deadline. There are no current plans to introduce legislation to mandate the guidelines.