Alcoholic Drinks

(asked on 16th September 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by the Alcohol Network on the Responsibility Deal.


This question was answered on 21st September 2015

There were 131 partners in the Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network, who signed up to a range of voluntary Responsibility Deal pledges on alcohol and committed to help people drink within the lower-risk alcohol guidelines.

Under the previous Government, Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network partners committed to a 2012 pledge to remove 1 billion units of alcohol sold annually from the market by December 2015, principally through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products. A 2014 interim monitoring report of progress against this pledge estimated that between 2011 and 2013 the number of units of alcohol removed from the market exceeded this target two years ahead of target date, showing there was a reduction of 1.3 billion units due to reductions in alcohol by volume of alcohol products.

Also under the previous Government, Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network partners committed to a pledge to have 80% of bottles and cans displaying unit content, the Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) lower-risk guidelines and by the end of 2013 a warning about drinking when pregnant. A 2014 independent report by Campden BRI found that 79.3% of labels provided all three elements correctly. The report also assessed market share by total amount of alcohol sold to allow comparison of progress since 2008 (trend data). This found that unit information increased by 22%; the CMO’s lower-risk drinking guidelines by 314%; and pregnancy warnings boosted by 122%.

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