Heineken to remove 100m alcohol units
Heineken UK is to reduce the alcoholic level of one of its key brands as part of its commitment to the Government's Responsibility Deal on alcohol.
Heineken has pledged to remove 100m units of alcohol from the UK market by 2013 by developing a low-strength variant of one of its top brands — Foster's, Strongbow, Heineken and John Smith's.
The most likely brand is thought to be Strongbow but Heineken said it had not yet committed to which brand or the exact abv reduction. It will also distribute 11m branded glasses to pubs displaying alcohol unit information in 2011.
The details of the Responsibility Deal were revealed by the Morning Advertiser last week and include the industry providing unit information, committing to include calorie labelling on food and soft drinks by 1 September this year, reduce salt levels in food by 15% by the end of 2012, and promote a more healthy lifestyle among their staff.
An official statement is due from Health Secretary Andrew Lansley on Tuesday.
"The Government's responsibility deal is to be welcomed, and the partnership gives us an opportunity to build on our existing responsible drinking programme," said Stefan Orlowski, managing director of Heineken UK.
"These two pledges represent a great start to what we hope will be a long term shared plan to improve alcohol awareness and reduce alcohol harm."
Supermarket Asda has also vowed to remove alcohol displays from the entrance to its stores and pledged £1m to help tackle alcohol misuse.
