Alcohol to get clearer pregnancy warnings – in three years

by Robin Osborne

By a narrow vote of 6-4, after nearly a decade of kicking the can (and the bottles) down the road, Australasia’s food safety ministers have decreed that a prominent and direct warning of the risks of consuming alcohol during pregnancy must be placed on all alcohol products.

However, the requirement will not come into force until 2023, by which time many Australian women will have consumed alcohol during their pregnancy, unaware of the irreversible damage to their unborn babies from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

A notable opponent of the health measure, which is based on a long-standing recommendation of Food Standards Australia New Zealand, was the federal Food Minister Sen. Richard Colbeck (Libs, Tas) who chairs the ministerial forum that met on 17 July. A decision on the issue had been deferred from previous meetings, the main sticking point being the use, or not, of red ink to highlight the danger presented by alcohol to the unborn.

Advocates insisted red would make the warning more prominent than the current, barely visible symbol. Claiming to speak on behalf of all beer, wine and spirits purveyors the industry said printing red ink would come at an unbearable cost.

On behalf of the Commonwealth Sen. Colbeck proposed removing the red ink on the words ‘Health Warning’ and

Photo by Vitor Pinto on Unsplash