Question reference: S5W-36073
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that health warnings and the low-risk drinking guidelines are displayed on alcoholic drinks, and what its position is on whether the alcohol industry has taken sufficient action to place health information on product and packaging labels.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Framework 2018 is clear that action is needed to inform consumers about the health impacts of alcohol consumption and the UK Chief Medical Officers’ lower-risk maximum drinking guidelines.
We delivered the Count 14 marketing campaign over two phases in 2019 and 2020. This aims to increase awareness of the 14 unit weekly lower-risk guidelines and translate 14 units into specific alcoholic drinks. The campaign included TV, radio, print and digital advertising as well a roadshow in local supermarkets and a range of partnerships.
A campaign evaluation report summarising the findings of independent pre and post tracker surveys was published on 22 March 2021: Alcohol - count 14 campaign: evaluation report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The findings demonstrate that the Count 14 campaign has made a positive impact on increasing awareness and understanding of the UK CMOs’ low-risk drinking guidelines in Scotland. For example, among all of those surveyed, awareness of the 14 unit limit increased from 17% pre-Count 14 activity to 32% after both phases. We will consider future national marketing and health messaging on alcohol consumption in light of these findings.
Product labels and packaging are an important source of information for consumers. A report published in 2020 by the Alcohol Health Alliance, based on 2019 data, found that more than 70% of the labels reviewed did not include the official, up-to date lower-risk drinking guidelines at the time of data collection: DRINKING-IN-THE-DARK.pdf (ahauk.org) .
As indicated in the Alcohol Framework, we will consider whether a legislative approach is required to improving health information on products. The Scottish Government, along with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, are discussing with the UK Government their plans for calorie labelling on alcohol products in England, in order to explore options for approaching alcohol labelling requirements on a four-nations basis.