'Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby': Regulator approves new warning label

Australian drinkers will be warned "alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby" under a new mandatory labelling scheme approved by the regulator, unless state and federal ministers veto the plan.

The alcohol lobby hit back at the "short-sighted" decision by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), while public health advocates said it was a "hugely significant step".

The food regulator has approved a new alcohol warning label for pregnant women.Credit: Tribune

The newly approved label for bottles larger than 200ml also includes the words "health warning" in red, bold capital letters and a pictogram of a silhouette of pregnant woman drinking with a red strike-through. Alcohol bottles up to 200ml would display the pictogram only.

"This decision is a bitter disappointment," Alcohol Beverages Australia chief executive Andrew Wilsmore said after the 129-page ruling was published on Monday.

He called on food ministers, who have 60 days to decide whether to follow FSANZ's advice, to "reject the label proposed by bureaucrats" and instead make the industry's voluntary "DrinkWise" label mandatory.

Public health advocates have complained drinkers do not notice the DrinkWise label - which does not include a written warning and directs consumers to a website funded by the alcohol industry - due to its placement and design.

Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education director of policy and research Trish Hepworth welcomed the FSANZ decision, which she said had come after eight years of "obstruction" by the alcohol industry.

"This hugely significant step will help protect future generations of Australians," Ms Hepworth said. "Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a serious issue."

Many women were still unaware of the risks of drinking during pregnancy, which could include fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, low birth weight, miscarriage and stillbirth, she said.

The latest official data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016 showed 25 per cent of women consumed alcohol after becoming aware they were pregnant, while 49 per cent drank before finding out they were pregnant.

Public health advocates say alcohol producers are using label design to obscure the DrinkWise warning.

Ms Hepworth said the DrinkWise label was "woefully ineffective" and had "served only to mislead and confuse consumers".

Alcohol manufacturers made almost 100 submissions to FSANZ arguing against its proposed warning label design.

FSANZ said it selected the statement that "alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby" on the basis of the available evidence, including World Health Organisation principles, stakeholder views and public health advice.

It opted not to proceed with its earlier proposed warning that "any amount of alcohol can harm your baby" due to a lack of scientific consensus about how much alcohol it takes to do harm, and the fact the label is not mandatory for drinks with less than 1.15 per cent alcohol content. Its chosen wording was consistent with official public health advice "for pregnant women not to consume alcohol".

In its written decision, FSANZ said the DrinkWise message had performed poorly in consumer testing of its effectiveness at explaining the consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

"If the warning label is not noticed by consumers then it will not achieve its purpose of informing consumers not to drink alcohol during pregnancy," FSANZ said. "Consumers do not look for warning labels, therefore they must be presented in a way that is likely to attract attention in order to achieve their purpose."

Mr Wilsmore said the FSANZ's decision to design its own label was "short-sighted" and would see costs passed on to consumers "for very little health gain".

A final decision on the labelling will be made by the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, representing the Commonwealth, state and territory and New Zealand governments.

Federal Food Minister Richard Colbeck, who chairs the forum, said he would give "careful consideration to the FSANZ recommendations" when the issue was considered at a future forum meeting. "Pregnancy warning labels are important and it is vital we get the messaging right," he said.