Australian liquor firms opt to warn drinkers

July 13, 2011|Associated Press

SYDNEY - Australia’s liquor industry launched a voluntary program to label its products with health warnings yesterday, possibly to preempt future criticism that it is contributing to excessive drinking that is part of the national culture.

About 80 percent of alcohol sold in the country - beer, wine, and spirits - will carry the warnings, primarily aimed at teenagers and pregnant women, said Trish Worth of DrinkWise Australia, a group funded by the alcohol industry.

The group, founded in 2005, aims to overturn the traditionally benign view that Australians have had of drinking, even among teenagers. According to DrinkWise, the average Australian starts drinking alcohol at 15 ½ years of age and more than a quarter of 14- to 19-year-olds are putting themselves at risk of harm at least once a month.

“We see physically mature teenagers and assume that their brains are mature, but they are not,’’ Worth said. “We have to challenge ideas that are so traditional and historic in Australia.’’

A few products with warning labels are already in stores but most beverage makers will introduce the messages gradually over the next few months, she said.

The three principal messages are “Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix,’’ “It is Safest Not to Drink While Pregnant,’’ and “Is Your Drinking Harming Yourself or Others?’’

The voluntary move comes ahead of an expected government decision later this year to make warnings mandatory in Australia.

Australia’s culture of drinking goes back to 1788, when the first settlers - British convicts and their jailers - landed in the country after an eight-month voyage. They celebrated the end of their ordeal with a raucous, booze-fueled party that established a time-honored tradition.