Call on your local politician to support a clear, visible and honest health warning on alcohol products

image of Call on your local politician to support a clear, visible and honest health warning on alcohol products

Food Forum Ministers will meet on 17 July to decide whether they will endorse an evidence-based pregnancy health warning or allow the watered-down version being pushed by the alcohol lobby.

Of particular concern is the alcohol industry’s plan to water down the warning colours from the recommended red, black and white colour scheme to one that would make the warning virtually invisible.

It’s taken us over 20 years to get an opportunity for an effective pregnancy health warning on alcohol products — and we don’t know if we’ll ever get this chance again.

Can you take action ...

Food Forum Ministers will meet on 17 July to decide whether they will endorse an evidence-based pregnancy health warning or allow the watered-down version being pushed by the alcohol lobby.

Of particular concern is the alcohol industry’s plan to water down the warning colours from the recommended red, black and white colour scheme to one that would make the warning virtually invisible.

It’s taken us over 20 years to get an opportunity for an effective pregnancy health warning on alcohol products — and we don’t know if we’ll ever get this chance again.

Can you take action today? We must make sure the voice of the Australian community is heard loud and clear before it’s too late.

Can you contact your local MP today?

We urgently need you to get in touch with your local MP today, to contact the Food Forum Ministers on your behalf to support the evidence-based label.

It’s time to ask our local politicians to help amplify our voice in the halls of government!

This is our last chance.

This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make sure the health and lives of Australian children are placed first.

Adding an evidence-based red, white and black label on alcohol products is a simple step we can take as a community to ensure everyone is aware when they begin planning their family.

But we’re up against a powerful alcohol lobby who are pushing hard for a warning label that is as invisible and confusing as possible.

We cannot let this happen!

Please contact your local member today to make sure the Food Forum Ministers hear the many voices of the community ahead of the meeting on 17 July.

Thank you for taking action.

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Ask your local member to amplify our message

We only have a few days left — get in touch with your local MP today to ask them to contact the Food Forum Ministers on your behalf to request they support the evidence-based health warning.

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Subject:

Nothing matters more to me than the health and wellbeing of my family and our community. That’s why I’m writing to you as a constituent, to raise the need for clear and visible pregnancy health warnings on alcohol products.

Food Forum Ministers will meet on 17 July and decide whether to endorse an evidence-based warning. As my local Member of Parliament, can I ask you to contact the relevant Ministers on my behalf and ask them to support the health warning label that includes the recommended red, white and black colours?

(The full list of Food Forum Ministers is at: https://foodregulation.gov.au/internet/fr/publishing.nsf/Content/forum-members)

Despite the fact that alcohol can cause brain damage in unborn babies, miscarriage, and stillbirth, the makers of alcohol products have never before been legally required to place a health warning on their products.

This is a problem because research has found over a third (35 per cent) of people aged 25-34 are not aware that drinking alcohol when pregnant is harmful to an unborn baby. But the evidence is clear — any amount of alcohol during pregnancy can result in damage to the brain and other organs of the unborn baby, as well as issues like low birth weight, failure to thrive, stillbirth and miscarriage.

Adding this red, white and black label on alcohol products is a simple step we can take as a community to ensure everyone is aware when they begin planning their family.

Thankfully, we now have the opportunity to make this change.

After a two-year research and development process, the independent food standards authority for Australia and New Zealand has developed a clear, visible and honest warning that will soon be mandatory on all alcohol products sold in this country.

But first, it needs the approval of the Forum on Food Regulation Ministers when they meet on 17 July.

I’m concerned that alcohol industry lobby groups are pushing for changes to key elements of the warning in ways that would make it virtually invisible.

In particular, I’m concerned about industry plans to water down the warning colours. Instead of the recommended red, black and white colour scheme, the alcohol industry is lobbying for the warning to be ‘contrast’.

In effect this contrast position means using a single colour of their own choosing, and in some cases not using a colour at all and instead making the text and picture elements of the label see-through. Needless to say, changing the proposed colours of the warning in this way would make it virtually invisible and even less effective than the poorly designed voluntary labels.

Red is the colour of warnings. When people see red, they pay attention. Removing red from the warning is the equivalent of making stop signs grey.

My concern is shared by a growing number of people across our community. More than 2,600 people and 140 organisations including Cancer Council, the Australian Medical Association, the Country Women’s Association and consumer group CHOICE have signed an open letter calling for ministers to put our community’s health first and to resist alcohol industry plans to water down the new warning.

Because the Forum on Food Regulation meeting is happening on 17 July, as a local constituent I’m asking you to urgently reach out to the relevant ministers and stress to them the importance of putting the health and wellbeing of Australian children first by supporting the evidence-based warning design in full.

Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.

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