Pregnancy health warnings on alcohol to be compulsory

Pregnancy health warnings on packaged alcohol will become compulsory after progress stalled on a voluntary initiative.

Australia’s official guidelines recommend pregnant women not consume any alcohol.

Packaged alcohol products will be legally required to carry pregnancy health warnings after progress stalled on a voluntary initiative running for almost seven years.

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation today commended those manufacturers who had already added pregnancy warnings but decided it was time to make it compulsory.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand will now start over on designing a warning ‘pictogram’ and statement, including consultation on timing and implementation arrangements.

Public Health Association of Australia CEO Terry Slevin applauded ministers for the decision, saying it would help prevent babies being born with conditions such as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder.

“The next logical step for alcohol warning labels is for Australia to follow Ireland’s lead and introduce mandatory labels which warn of the risks associated between drinking alcohol and developing cancer,” Mr Slevin said.

Brewers Association of Australia CEO Brett Heffernan said today’s decision was not unexpected after only 75 per cent of the industry acted on the voluntary initiative.

“We are perplexed as to why others in the industry failed to heed the writing on the wall since 2012,” Mr Heffernan said.

“The three major brewers got the job done, across hundreds of product labels, in just two years.”

Mr Heffernan said research from the industry’s DrinkWise Australia showed 74 per cent of women aged 18-40 were aware of the pregnancy warning labels.

Australia’s official guidelines are currently under review and recommend pregnant women not consume any alcohol.

Ministers also acted on the problem of “adulterated and counterfeit honey” by asking the Food Regulation Standing Committee to develop options for tightening standards to prevent misleading descriptions of food.

Ongoing discussions around the adequacy of sugar labelling have been deferred, with the next meeting in December to discuss a timeline for reform.