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Unfavourable reaction to new drink warnings

09/05/2008

New government plans to label all alcoholic drinks with health warnings are being badly received by drinkers, a new survey finds.

New research by Mintel shows that men in particular view the new labeling scheme as a waste of time.

By the end of 2008 all alcoholic drinks labels must include sensible drinking advice.

Labels will be expected to include how many alcoholic units are in the drink as well as the government's safe drinking guidelines, including the advice that pregnant women should not drink any alcohol.

Today's survey found that only 40 per cent of men think the health warnings are a good idea, while 49 per cent of women backed the government initiative.

Only 30 per cent of men polled claimed the labels would make them think about how much alcohol they drank, compared to 36 per cent of women.

"While recent press coverage has seen women come under attack for binge drinking, they are clearly more open to these new proposed labels," senior researcher Mathilde Dudouit said.

"For women at least, this new initiative could well be a step in the right direction to combat excessive drinking. Meanwhile, men clearly are much more set in their ways when it comes to what they drink, and it will be harder to convince them to change their habits."

The level of men's disinterest in the new labels is further highlighted in the survey by only two in five of those polled claiming they would find it useful to know how many units they were consuming.

Comparatively, 53 per cent of women said they would be interested in knowing.

"The trend towards stronger drinks and larger glasses means that Brits can often no longer be sure how many units they are drinking," Ms Dudouit said.

"Without clear information, many people will be unaware whether they are exceeding their weekly alcohol intake, or whether they are still within the safe drink drive limits after an evening out."

Recent figures suggest only 13 per cent of people keep a check on the number of units they drink.