My Lords, in moving this amendment, the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, has emphasised its importance to improving personal and public health. The amendment requires the Secretary of State to publish a report on alcohol labelling, with the aim of improving consumer knowledge about the contents and potential harms of alcohol products. Surely it is in the interests of consumers for labelling on alcoholic products to meet the standards we have come to expect from food labelling.
The context really matters. As the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, said, alcohol is the leading risk factor contributing to ill health and death for 15 to 49 year- olds, and it is the fifth leading factor across all age groups. Drinking a bottle of wine is, for example, the equivalent of smoking 10 cigarettes, yet a packet of cigarettes must carry a health warning. Surely consumers should be entitled to know how many units of alcohol, how many calories and how much sugar is in a bottle or can. It is very clear that the alcohol industry’s self-regulation has failed, as the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, said. Commitments were made a decade ago that labelling would improve in line with Department of Health recommendations, yet that has not happened.
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I have concluded that the time has come to regulate properly. Food is labelled, showing calories, fat, carbohydrates, sugar, fibre, protein and salt. Much less is shown on alcohol. Wine can show little more than sulphites. Beer can show little more than calories and strength. However, the consequences of high alcohol consumption are there for us all to see. It surely is time for the Government to act. I signed this amendment because it is a very straightforward proposal which all parts of the House should be supporting. I hope very much that the Minister will accept it this afternoon.