Health advisory labels on alcoholic beverages

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has been working on two projects involving the labelling of alcoholic beverages. The first project concerns the consideration of mandatory health advisory statements on packaged alcohol; a review of the evidence relating to the effectiveness of health advisory statements has been completed and provided to the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy. The second project involves Application A576 to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to require pregnancy health advisory statements on the labels of alcoholic beverages; a discussion paper, submissions, and two independent reports (a literature review of the evidence relating to the effectiveness of health advisory statements alerting the public of the dangers of drinking alcohol when pregnant, and a cost-effectiveness study comparing mandatory labelling with other strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among pregnant women) inform considerations for this project. The timeline for the first project is early 2011 (when Ministers and COAG have made their considerations in relation to the review), with work to resume on the Application project following this.

Links

• View information: Health advisory labels on alcoholic beverages
• View website: Foods Standards Australia New Zealand