Brewery claims warning labels will help create 'continental' drinking culture

Britain’s largest brewer, Scottish Courage, is intends to introduce health warning labels, or as the brewery is calling it “responsible drinking messages”, on its drink products. William Crawshay, a spokesman for Scottish & Newcastle Brewery, has claimed his company intends to use these labels to create more of a “continental” culture of drinking in the United Kingdom.

The labels will warn drinkers as to how many units are contained in cans and bottles of beer, followed by the information that male drinkers should not consume more than four units of alcohol a day, while female drinkers should only drink up to three units a day. The famous Newcastle Brown Ale, the typical drinkers of which brew might not be expected to be among those most likely to heed warnings of any kind, will be the first product to sport the labels.

The move to introduce information on labels on beer has occurred at the same time as the Portman Group, which, of course, is funded by the drink industry, has launched a website which promotes safe drinking levels along government guidelines.

Speaking to BBC One’s ‘Breakfast’, Mr Crawshay said: “It’s the right thing to do to take a lead and show responsibility in labelling and marketing. We’ve done it because people are increasingly comfortable with the notion of unit labelling for alcohol”.

He further explained: “I think what we’re trying to do is create a culture in this country rather like on the continent of Europe, where drinking isn’t concentrated into a few hours in the week, so we can spread our enjoyment and leisure time throughout the week. Then we all benefit.”

Labels will also soon be placed on other popular brands such as John Smiths, Kronenbourg, and Fosters. However, Dr Jean Harvey, a psychologist at the University of Newcastle, has warned that a new move to label beer could lead to a new drinking challenge ‘cult’, in which people drink more alcohol units than recommended.

Also on BBC One’s ‘Breakfast’, Dr Harvey commented, “Whether people take notice or not is a bit more debatable. I would be worried about young people because the warnings on cigarette packets haven’t made much of an effect there. “Whether people will stop at one-and-a-half pints of Newcastle and Brown, and say I’ve had enough and go back to the orange juice, is actually quite debatable.” Instead, she warned: “In fact some of this could be looked upon as a bit of a challenge. It could become a bit of a cult, amongst at least some of the population, to challenge how many units you’ve had.”

She stressed: “I think we’ve got to make a much bigger attack on binge drinking than simply putting labels on bottles”.