Methodist Church welcomes alcohol labelling proposals

The Methodist Church has welcomed news that the drinks industrycould be forced to put health warnings on all alcoholicdrinks.

The proposals from the Department of Health would mean that, bylaw, labels would have to give information such as the number ofunits contained in the drink, guidelines for alcohol consumptionand the Drinkaware Trust website (www.drinkaware.co.uk). The Churchhas been calling for improved labelling since the launch of thevoluntary scheme in 2007.

David Bradwell, Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church in Britain,said: "There has been very slow progress with the voluntarylabelling scheme, where the onus for action is left to producers.But because responsible marketing is not a priority for manyalcohol producers, mandatory labelling has to be the answer. Peopleshould know exactly how many units are in each bottle and should beaware of the health risks, so that they can make an informed choiceabout what and how much they drink."

But the Church believes that further action will be needed totackle Britain's binge drinking culture, and it is pressing for theGovernment to introduce a minimum sale price for each unit ofalcohol. "Cheap booze blights lives," David continued. "We needradical action to tackle the devastation caused by alcoholabuse."