A new report from the Alcohol Health Alliance and Alcohol Focus Scotland has laid bare the systematic failures of alcohol labelling in the UK – and made a compelling case for mandatory reform.
A Clear Way Forward, the most comprehensive audit of UK alcohol labels to date, examined over 530 products and found that consumers are being consistently kept in the dark. One in five products failed to meet even the minimum standards set by the industry’s own self-regulatory body, the Portman Group. Cancer warnings appeared on just 1.3% of products, while the industry-funded Drinkaware website featured on nearly nine in ten – meaning consumers are ten times more likely to encounter a “Drink Responsibly” message than any genuine health information.
The report also found that where health information did appear, it was routinely too small to read, hidden on the back of packaging, and dwarfed by branding. Not a single product carried a health warning on the front.
The findings arrive at a pivotal moment: the UK government has committed to consulting on mandatory alcohol labelling as part of its 10 Year Health Plan. The report’s authors argue this is an opportunity that cannot be missed – and that voluntary guidelines have demonstrably failed to put consumers first.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said:
Alcohol is a type 1 carcinogen — in the same category as tobacco and asbestos — yet most alcohol products carry little or no meaningful health information communicating those risks.
Public awareness of alcohol harms remains low, particularly around alcohol and cancer, despite alcohol being attributable to an estimated one in 25 cancer cases in the UK.
Consumers would not accept this level of missing health information on other food and drink products, and alcohol should not be treated differently.
Consumers have a right to know what is in their drink, how much alcohol it contains, and the health risks associated with drinking it. Mandatory alcohol labelling would help ensure everyone can make informed decisions about their health.
Further findings:
- One in four products do not include units per serving, limiting consumer ability to track intake
- 8% of products do not include units per container, a minimum requirement
- Only 6.7% of products currently include any health warning
- Just 1.3% of products include specific warnings relating to cancer or liver disease, despite alcohol causing at least seven types of cancer
- Full nutritional information was provided on only 13.4% of products
- Industry-funded messaging (such as ‘drink responsibly’) appears on nearly 90% of products
- Researchers also found that legal and health information was often displayed in very small text or pictograms, with some measuring as little as 2.5mm in diameter