Six health groups refuse to sign up to alcohol responsibility deal

By James Wilmore

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Drinks industry Alcohol Alcoholic beverage

Six leading health groups have pulled out of the government's responsibility deal on alcohol over concerns the drinks industry has had too much...

Six leading health groups have pulled out of the government's responsibility deal on alcohol over concerns the drinks industry has had too much influence.

The deal, due to be announced officially this week, will mean drink producers, pubs and supermarkets will be expected to do more to help tackle alcohol abuse.

For pubs, this reportedly could mean raising awareness of the unit content of drinks.

The health groups, including Alcohol Concern and the Royal College of Physicians, said they had lost confidence with the approach because of a lack of clarity over what would happen if the drinks industry did not meet the commitments.

The pledges were neither specific nor measurable, the groups said, as they lacked scope and there was no evidence they would even work.

They also argued not enough was being done to make alcohol less affordable and the industry had used the process to dictate government policy.

A statement from the groups said: "We have not yet seen evidence that government is working towards a comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy to reduce alcohol harm, based on evidence of what works, with rigorous evaluation metrics."

Don Shenker, Alcohol Concern's chief executive, said: "This is the worst possible deal for everyone who wants to see alcohol harm reduced. There are no firm targets or any sanctions if the drinks industry fails to fulfil its pledges. It's all carrot and no stick for the drinks industry and supermarkets."

Heineken UK has revealed a series of pledges to support the deal. One is to "aim to remove 100 million units of alcohol from the UK market each year through lowering the strength of a major brand by 2013", with speculation suggesting it could be Strongbow. However Heineken has refused to confirm this.

Another pledge is to offer unit labelling on 11 million branded pint glasses - on drinks such as Foster's, Strongbow, Heineken and John Smith's - showing alcohol unit information by end of 2011.

Stefan Orlowski, managing director of Heineken UK, said: "As the UK's leading brewer, it is hugely important to us that our brands are consumed in a responsible manner. The government's responsibility deal is to be welcomed, and the partnership gives us an opportunity to build on our existing responsible drinking programme.

"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."

Related topics Health & safety

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