Winemakers in fizz over health warnings

Vintners in Germany and Italy are protesting against a plan to make bottles and cans of alcohol carry health warnings.

Strasbourg is considering health warnings on wine and beer.

Winemakers in Germany and Italy are protesting against a plan to make bottles and cans of alcohol carry health warnings across the European Union.

MEPs in Strasbourg will debate a package of cancer prevention measures tomorrow including a proposal for alcoholic drinks to be labelled with their ingredients, nutritional values and mention of the medical risks associated with heavy drinking.

The parliamentarians behind the idea argue that 10 per cent of cancer cases in European men and 3 per cent of those in women can be attributed to alcohol. They aim to curb excessive drinking across the EU by 10 per cent over the next four years.

The exact details of the labelling remain to be determined but it is not thought they will stretch to the graphic images of disease printed on cigarette packets.

One plan is for wine to be given its own category in the EU’s “Nutriscore” food safety traffic-light system, developed by Serge Hercberg, a French epidemiologist.

Vineyards in the Champagne region will also be hit by the new rules.

At present this runs from a green “A” for the healthiest products, such as bottled water or Weetabix, to a red “E” for drinks and foodstuffs with high levels of sugar, fat or salt, such as certain cheeses and cured meats. Under the plan alcohol would receive a black “F”, suggesting that it is harmful to consume.

A handful of countries have adopted similar systems: the US made labelling compulsory in 1990, while Ireland requires producers to add warnings about the carcinogenic properties of alcohol.

Winemakers in other EU states worry that the measure would be bad for business. Some have argued that it threatens to stigmatise their trade in the way public health campaigns corroded the tobacco industry’s public image.

They have pinned their hopes on an amendment filed by the three biggest blocs in the European parliament, which would water down the proposals.

Klaus Schneider, president of the German Winegrowers’ Association, whose family has run a vineyard in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate since the late 19th century, said that in its present form the scheme could be fatal for European wine sales.

“Overall there is absolutely a risk that the image of wine could be damaged,” he told SWR, a local public broadcaster. “For the vintners that would possibly mean a reduction in wine consumption. That would of course result in a loss of income.”

In Italy the concern is shared by the government. Gian Marco Centinaio, a junior agriculture minister responsible for the wine industry, said it was “obtuse” that the plan did not distinguish between responsible and excessive levels of drinking.

“Wine, in France as for us, is an expression of the culture and the territory, part of the Mediterranean diet … as well as an important feature of the Italian economy, recording more than euros 7 billion worth of exports in 2021,” Centinaio said.

Coldiretti, the largest Italian farmers’ association, was indignant: “It’s totally inappropriate to conflate the abuse of spirits that is typical of northern countries with the moderate and responsible consumption of high-quality, low-alcohol products like beer and wine.”

The Times