Alcohol labelling: Poll shows many still in dark over risk during pregnancy

If health experts win ministerial support on Friday, all alcoholic drinks will carry red and black labels, saying "health warning" and showing a pregnant woman in silhouette lifting a wine glass to her mouth.

Under bold capital letters saying "Health Warning", the wording on the image says "Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby".

The new label that Australian and New Zealand health ministers will consider making mandatory on all alcoholic beverages.

It's a message health experts say is failing to get through. A survey of 2664 people released this week found a quarter were unaware that drinking during pregnancy was harmful to an unborn baby.

About 30 per cent were ignorant of the risk of lifelong intellectual disabilities caused by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and 50 per cent were in the dark about the increased risk of stillbirth. The survey was commissioned by the Foundation of Alcohol Research and Education ahead of a ministerial forum on food regulation to be held by teleconference on Friday.

Alcohol Beverages Australia said it backs compulsory warning labels that will replace the Drink Wise voluntary labels.

But health experts say the industry has been lobbying the nine state and federal ministers, including New Zealand, to water down the proposed label and delay it.

The industry opposes the wording, arguing it should say "pregnancy advice" instead of "health warning".

A spokesperson for Alcohol Beverages also said the red and white labels would be a financial burden, particularly for small vineyards and brewers. Hit by "bushfires, drought, flooding, coronavirus", the cost of the label could be the "last nail in the coffin", she said.

In an open letter to ministers on Thursday, parents, carers and grandparents of those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder made a "plea from the heart" asking them to support the label so more children wouldn't suffer.

The syndrome defined lives: children struggled at school. Later in life the disorder often caused explosive fear and anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Caterina Giorgi said the issue was about the lives of people and wellbeing: "I am not going to cost the life and wellbeing of a child."

With some ministers' support in doubt, she called on them to support the label. "Watering it down will indicate that strong alcohol lobbying was successful," Ms Giorgi said.

The statutory body Food Standards Australia New Zealand has approved the new label, which needs ministerial approval.

Pediatrician Professor Elizabeth Elliott from the University of Sydney sees children every week at her Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder assessment clinic who are struggling with learning and behaviour and with physical disability and intellectual impairment. It was as a result of brain injury caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, she said.

Research shows children with prenatal exposure to alcohol are more likely to end up in custody and to develop substance misuse. Professor Elliott said recent studies showed approximately 60 per cent of pregnant women reported using alcohol, a figure disputed by the alcohol industry.

In its submission, the alcohol industry group said it believed the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome was overstated, the cost of the label was understated, and the label provided erroneous government advice.

If approved by ministers with responsibility for food regulation on Friday, the labels are intended to become a mandatory requirement on all packaged alcoholic beverages containing more than 1.15% alcohol by volume.

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