Irish Examiner View: Health warning plan for alcohol leaves a bitter taste

Proposals for finger-wagging health warnings on bottles of wine, beer, and spirits may not be neccessary in a country that is already adopting healthier alcohol-consumption habits.

Alcohol-free products such as Gordon's Alcohol Free 0.0% are becoming increasingly popular. Picture: PA Photo/Gordon's.

Growth in alcohol-free beers, lagers, and spirits is accelerating off the sales graph like a rocket, with every indication that this is a lasting change in consumer behaviour rather than a fad for “dry January” or other marketing spin designed to add impetus to an untapped market.

Sales in Ireland have more than tripled in the five years to 2022, while the market share for non-alcoholic beer has soared by 275%. 

Further growth is predicated for much of the rest of this decade as people seek to balance their consumption allied to increased awareness of the downsides of excess.

Drinking has fallen in Ireland by some 33% in 20 years, but the Republic still lags behind other European countries in converting to “no or low” alcohol alternatives. 

In Germany, land of the beer festival, they command a share of nearly 12%, while in Spain they have been promoted as an alternative beverage for drivers and have captured 11% of the market.

With all the trends heading in the right direction, it seems a peculiar time for Ireland to be planning to place stark health warnings on bottles of wine, beer, and spirits. The proposal, first tabled in June, has not been blocked by the EU despite protests from Italy, Spain, and six other member states.

Ireland is now free to proceed with the measure, which would warn consumers about the risks of cancer and liver diseases linked to alcohol and the dangers posed by drinking alcohol while pregnant. Once officially implemented by the Government, the industry will have three years in which to implement the labelling on its product packaging.

Coldiretti, Italy’s biggest farmers’ body, described the “terrifying” warnings as a “direct attack” against the country. Italy is a key exporter of wine, with more than half of the industry’s €14bn of annual revenues coming from abroad.

“The green light from the European Union for alarmist wine labels in Ireland represents a dangerous precedent as it risks opening the door to other legislation capable of negatively influencing consumer choices,” the association said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, Italy’s food ministry says: “Wine is history, culture ... an expression of our territories and is part of the Mediterranean diet.”

Much of the rest of Europe is concerned about the establishment of an unhelpful precedent covering goods which can be freely sold, and enjoyed, everywhere across the community. 

Perhaps the relevant question is whether we actually need all these additional warnings and finger-wagging when the public already appears to be ahead of the arguments.