On behalf of Beoir I have made a submission to a survey that the European Health and Digital Executive Agency is doing as part of the European Commission’s Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. It's mostly multiple choice, about the effectiveness of health warnings (I said they make no difference) and whether they should be standardised across countries and types of drink (I said they should). Among the comments I wrote are:
"Singling out alcohol for these warnings is unfair and unhelpful. Cancer in particular has widespread and multitudinous causes. A cancer warning on alcohol products draws a direct cause and effect relationship which is a massive oversimplification. Similarly, alcohol can have positive effects on mental health and wellbeing as well as negative."
and
"As a consumer organisation, promoting choice, we are very concerned about the unintended consequence of alcohol health warning labels, as smaller manufacturers will struggle to afford the redesign of their packaging, especially if there are different warnings required for different jurisdictions. Alcohol products are exported extensively around the world and this will have a strong chilling effect on the trade, with a knock-on negative effect for consumers regarding choice and price."
