Alcohol bottles to carry labels warning pregnant women of drink dangers

Compulsory warning labels for pregnant women are to appear on all bottles of alcohol from next year under new health laws.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar plans to impose a number of mandatory warnings and information labels on drinks under the new legislation, which will be among the most far-reaching laws in Europe.

Five pieces of information, including a warning on the risks of drinking while pregnant, will be printed on bottles.

The bottle labels will also feature a general health warning, a calorie count, the amount of pure alcohol as measured in grammes, and details of a website to be set up to provide advice on safe drinking.

The Department of Health is planning to bring the proposed Public Health (Alcohol) Bill before the Dáil before Christmas. It includes measures designed to reduce alcohol consumption and limit the damage to the nation’s health.

Standardised health warnings are expected to appear on all bottles of alcohol from next year after the bill passes through the Oireachtas.

Welcoming the proposed legislation, Alcohol Action Ireland said around three people die in Ireland each day due to alcohol-related issues.

Spokesman Conor Cullen said there are strict laws around what must appear on other food and beverage packaging but none on alcohol.

“It you look at the back of a litre of milk, for example, you can see the ingredients, the number of calories, and where it was produced, but if you look at a bottle of alcohol you won’t get that information,” Mr Cullen said.

“You won’t get the grammes of alcohol, for example; they rarely carry ingredients so it is essential to have legislation that stipulates what must appear on bottles.

“Labelling is a really important part of the overall suite of measures when you are taking about reducing alcohol consumption and abuse.”

Mr Cullen said it was “farcical” that multinational drinks companies had not already placed warning labels on bottles. The bill will impose minimum unit pricing in a bid to tackle alcohol abuse and will also impose advertising restrictions.

Mr Varadkar previously said: “Ireland has a serious problem — we drink too much alcohol. When we drink, we tend to binge drink. More than half of adult drinkers in the population are classified as harmful drinkers.

“The Government is tacking this with the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill which is the first ever public health legislation on alcohol and among the most far-reaching in Europe.”

Research published in medical journal BMJ Open found that Irish women are far more likely to drink while pregnant than their counterparts in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

The study, published in July, also found that more than 45% of Irish women binge drink in the first three months of pregnancy.