“Wine is like cigarettes”, health labeling is law in Ireland

Wine bottles like cigarette packs. Ireland is going straight and has enacted regulation allowing the labeling of alcohol with health warnings, modeled after what is already being done for products containing tobacco.

What does the law provide

The new legislation mandates the labels of alcoholic products to indicate the calorie content and grams of alcohol in the product, and to include warnings about the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the risk of liver disease and fatal cancers associated with alcohol consumption. The law is the first of its kind in the EU and has sparked strong protests from some governments of the bloc; The Italian is one of the most aggressive in asking the European Commission to intervene to block the Irish provision. But Brussels shrugged: health care is the responsibility of the Member States, not the EU, and therefore Dublin has the right to take whatever measures it deems most appropriate to protect the health of its citizens.

alcoholism problem

Alcoholism is a widespread problem in Ireland, and alcohol abuse kills three people a day in alfalfa country, according to a 2016 report by the Health Research Board. Average consumption is calculated as 11 liters per year. The association between alcohol and health also highlighted that excessive consumption of these beverages increases mortality, particularly among youth aged 15 to 39, who tend to buy them cheaply from shops and supermarkets. According to data provided by the World Health Organization, Ireland ranks second in the world for binge drinking, especially among adolescents.

war against ireland

As early as 2022, Dublin restricted alcohol by setting a legal minimum price for retail sales: 7 euros and 40 cents for a standard bottle of wine, and a price in excess of 20 euros for spirits. Now the label law, which will take effect from May 22, 2026, after a three-year transition period. Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he looks forward to other countries doing the same.

Reference is made to the ongoing debate on alcohol-related risks in Europe and to the new EU strategy for the fight against cancer, in which the World Health Organization takes the positions and emphasizes that not only tobacco but also alcohol is harmful. plays a role in the onset of cancer and therefore Brussels aims to lead a reduction in European consumption. It is not clear how this reduction will be, but there are those who are after the idea of ​​promoting the Irish model at EU level.

For this reason, 13 member states, including Italy, have already removed barricades at the urging of wine and beer producers. The fear is that health labeling will eventually become a European law. Hence the war to stop Ireland. The weapon used by countries that oppose the label is that Dublin thus creates an “unfair and disproportionate” barrier to trade. Last week, European and national wine, beer and spirits producers’ associations filed a formal complaint with the EU Commission to initiate an infringement procedure against Ireland. However, the alcohol sector’s chances of success seem slim.

Source: Today IT

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