Liquor companies have delayed placing mandatory warnings for pregnant consumers on products, according to new research, with just 63 per cent of alcoholic beverages carrying the label, despite a generous three-year grace period.
A study by The George Institute for Global Health just published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health analysed 6000 alcohol products sold in four large Sydney retailers from June to November 2023. A decision by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) gave businesses three years – from July 31, 2020, to July 31, 2023 – to implement the standards. At the time, wine companies were angered by the decision, describing it as “patronising”.
The warning labels aim to educate consumers that drinking while pregnant raises the risk of potential long-term health concerns in unborn children.
“The industry fought hard against pregnancy warning labels when they were mandated by Government in 2020, after 20 years of lobbying to bring Australia in line with the evidence and WHO recommendations,” said lead author of the study, Simone Pettigrew, head of health promotion at The George Institute for Global Health and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney.
“Yet, even with three years to display standardised pregnancy warnings on all new packaging, more than a third of products we analysed did not do so.”
Other studies have found that some Australian women are still unsure if they can drink alcohol while pregnant; approximately one-third of women say they have. Giving women warning information has been demonstrated to help them avoid drinking while pregnant.
Pettigrew also stated that the analysis discovered that 25 per cent of alcohol products had their versions of pregnancy warnings, which is concerning because research regularly demonstrates that industry-designed warnings are less effective than warnings developed using evidence-based methodologies.
