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Overview of existing labels – A review of practices in Europe. European Parliament, Brussels 17. March 2011. Walter Farke (MPH) Deutsches Institut für Sucht- und Präventionsforschung (DISuP). Consumer labelling of alcoholic beverages Enticing consumers to buy the product
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Overview of existing labels – A review of practices in Europe European Parliament, Brussels 17. March 2011 Walter Farke (MPH) Deutsches Institut für Sucht- und Präventionsforschung (DISuP)
Consumer labelling of alcoholic beverages • Enticing consumers to buy the product • Package as advertising space • Helping the consumers to make informed decisions • Product information • Alerting the consumers about health and safety risks • Warning statements
Main objective of WP 5 – Member State experiences: Collect practices on labelling of alcoholic beverages across Europe, focussing more particularly on EU-MS.
The data collection focussed on information and warning • messages covering: • General health warnings; • Specific health warnings ( e.g. liver cirrhosis); • Information about units; • Drinking guidelines; • Legal age limits for purchasing alcoholic beverages; • Messages about drinking in moderation; • Drinking and Driving; • Operating machinery; • Harm to others (family members or other third parties).
Mandatory Information (beverages > 1.2% ABV), • governed by the EU: • Mandatory for all: • Product name • Beverage category • Quantity: L, cl, ml • Strenght: % ABV • Contact info • Code or batch • Place of origin • Certain specific ingredients • Mandatory for some: • Minimum durability • Allergens • Easily understandable language • One or more official languages • Additional (not alternative to text) • pictogram for sulphites in wine and • sparkling wine
National Governmental actions: • Germany 2004 (mandatory): • Age limits for alcopops • France 2007 (mandatory): • Alcohol consumption and pregnancy • Russia 2007 (mandatory): • Health warnings for different target groups, • age limits • United Kingdom 2007 (voluntary): • Alcohol content in units • Lower-risk guidelines • Alcohol and pregnancy message
Alcohol industries actions (voluntary): • Denmark (1995): • Alcohol content in units (revised 2009) • The Netherlands (2004): • Responsible drinking message (website) • Germany (2006): • Age limits: “Beer? Sorry, at 16 years.“ • Drinking and Driving (campaigns) • Responsible drinking message: “Enjoy beer • consciously“ • Lithuania (2010): • Age limits
Impact and effectiveness • Greater awareness of the messages was identified (Stockwell 2006). • Evidence of awareness and recall of the messages was found, especially among teenagers & pregnant women (McKinnon et al. 2000, Guillemont & Leon 2008). • Increasing awareness of the standard drink concept was also shown in Australia (Loxley et al. 2004). • It was shown that 17% of the 12-17 year-old alcohol consumers were prevented from buying alcopops when using age limits labels (Federal Institute for Health Education 2005).
Determinants to grab attention: • Label clutter • Location • Orientation • Contrast • Colour • Pictorials • Signal icons/ texts • Border • Combination
Results of a qualitative study (VicHealth 2009): • At the beginning, health warnings should be factual and informative; • Labels most likely to be effective are those linked with existing media campaigns; • If images are included, they would be more effective if they are linked with other elements of a social marketing campaign; • Messages should not tell the consumers what to do. Participants who had personal bad experiences in relation with their drinking behaviours are especially reluctant to these types of messages; • “Health Warning” was the most preferred wording.
Suggestions of “Health Warning“ labels (SABMiller plc 2010, July 2010)
Suggestions of “Health Warning“ labels (SABMiller plc 2010, Nov. 2010)
Conclusions • Mandatory regulations should be the best way to use health warning labels and other information on alcoholic beverages, because ... • they ensure widest possible reach of the population; • they ensure a design that enhances visibility, e.g. they should determine the minimum size and the placement of the health warnings on the labels; • they ensure the relevance of the content of the messages, which really closing the gaps of knowledge among the consumers; • they provide the opportunity to support and reinforce warning messages on alcoholic beverages with similar messages on alcohol advertisement; • they ensure accessibility of specific target groups, e.g. pregnant women.
Thank you for your attention! Contact: w.farke@katho-nrw.de