Should plans to put cancer warning labels on alcohol go ahead? A doctor and a wine expert debate
Alcoholic drinks should carry a warning label because these labels speak a plain truth: alcohol causes enormous amounts of illness and death in Ireland.
As a liver specialist, I have seen at first hand the catastrophic harms of alcohol on individuals. Alcohol is a silent killer.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis only come to healthcare when their liver disease is irreversible and will lead to their death. Death from liver failure often occurs after many prolonged hospital and ICU admissions, and involves real suffering.
It was witnessing this that led me – alongside many of my medical colleagues – to become involved in advocating to reduce alcohol consumption and its harmful consequences. We are passionately committed to the introduction of alcohol health warning labelling in May 2026.
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Alcohol kills four people a day in Ireland, and causes more than 200 types of illness and injury, including seven types of common fatal cancers, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and fatal liver diseases.
These clear, evidence-based facts are the subjects of the alcohol warning labels. Citizens have a right to know the inherent risk and be warned, while Government and producers have a responsibility to inform them.
Most Irish citizens do not know or understand the risks of alcohol consumption. In recognising this lack of knowledge, and the public health objective to reduce alcohol consumption and harms, the Public Health (Alcohol) Act (PHAA) was passed unanimously by Oireachtas in 2018. This included provisions to place alcohol health warning labels on all alcohol products sold in Ireland. The issue was thoroughly examined and approved after 1,000 days of debate.
Against the enormous harms of alcohol, the suggestion recently from a senior Government minister, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, that the introduction of Ireland's regulations on health information and warning labelling of alcohol products should be 're-examined' amid concerns about tariffs is shocking and disturbing.
Why has it taken so long for alcohol products to carry health warnings? The answer is the inappropriate influence of the alcohol industry
Ireland's labelling regulations are a health measure and must be understood in the context of the burden that alcohol places on individuals, families, the health service and our wider society.
Attempting to link global trading uncertainty as a result of
US tariffs
to the issue of alcohol health-warning labelling designed to protect our citizens' health is disingenuous. Labelling measures apply only to alcohol products sold in Ireland and have no impact on alcohol exports.
As stated by the
World Health Organisation
and others, the alcohol industry cannot have a direct role in formulating and implementing public health policy. The alcohol industry is alarmed that these labels will reduce alcohol sales and their profits, precisely because the product will state the truth of the risks of alcohol consumption.
With all of these proven harms from alcohol in mind, the real question to be asked is why has it taken so long for alcohol products to carry health warnings? The answer to this is the inappropriate influence of the alcohol industry.
The eyes of the world are on Ireland and our introduction of alcohol health warning and nutrition labelling in May next year. Delaying their operation would be seen as a victory for 'Big Alcohol' over citizens' rights and their health, and damage Ireland's reputation.
Prof Frank Murray MD FRCPI is a consultant hepatologist in Dublin, chair of Alcohol Action Ireland and past president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI)
Jean Smullen: No. Current labelling regulations will place a big burden on small retailers
On May 26th next year Ireland will become the first country in the world to introduce on label health warnings in relation to the sale and consumption of alcohol. Section 12 of The Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023 was signed into law by Stephen Donnelly, then minister for health, following the dismissal of many objections.
The law provides that the labels of alcohol products will have to state the calorie content and grams of alcohol in the product. Retailers will also need to ensure that every container that contains alcohol they have for sale carries a specified health message printed in red against a white background: 'drinking alcohol causes liver disease' and 'there is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers'.
Drinking Alcohol
There can be no doubting the good intentions of the former minister in introducing these new regulations, which aim to educate consumers on the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and to provide calorie information.
However, as is often the case in Ireland, the impact on small businesses in meeting the requirements of the new regulations was not fully examined before their introduction.
These will place a significant burden on small retailers and hospitality businesses already facing an uncertain future from the US tariffs and a looming global recession. These unintended consequences must be recognised by the Government. They can be addressed in a way which will allow the policy to achieve the desired effect.
EU Law requires the nutritional information to be displayed on a wine label per 100ml from the 2024 vintage onwards, alongside a QR code linking to the ingredients.
Our new regulations will require the same information to be presented per container, without any reference to the unit of measure. We feel that this goes against the spirit of the legislation by causing confusion rather than clarity. The priority should be to provide clear information to guide consumers in their choice.
In a clear case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, it is introducing a policy that will further squeeze a sector already hanging by a thread
Unlike beers and spirits, the nutritional values on wines change with every vintage, meaning that each wine and each vintage has a unique label. A simple calculation would estimate that more than a quarter of a million different labels would be needed to be produced, putting undue pressure on small independent retailers, restaurants and distributors.
As importers and distributors of wines, we have actively engaged with our suppliers regarding the implementation of the health warning. The new regulations stipulate that the label must be in landscape format. In some cases, we are having difficulty fitting the PHAA-mandated warning along with other regulatory information on to the label.
Given the cost and complication of complying with the legislation, many small wine producers, and even some larger ones, have decided to leave the Irish market. This will reduce competition and leave many smaller Irish wine importers fighting for their survival.
We could overcome this if the information could be displayed in portrait or landscape formats. Portrait format would display the same information with the same overall label size, achieving the same desired effect, but in a format that works with more bottle's shapes and label formats.
Logistics aside, we also need to ask if this is the right time to introduce these new regulations. CSO data points to sharp falls in overseas visitors – 30 per cent down in January and February compared to the same months last year – raising fears that Irish industries reliant on tourism are facing a sharp downturn.
US president
Donald Trump
's tariff policy may yet lead to a global economic downturn, if not an outright recession. We are already seeing market instability, disrupted supply chains and increased costs for businesses.
The Government, in keeping the 9 per cent VAT rate, has recognised the need to support the hospitality sector. But now, in a clear case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, it is introducing a policy that will further squeeze a sector already hanging by a thread.
In the context of the emerging crisis of US tariffs and the pressure that this brings for businesses large and small, if Government wants to focus on doing everything possible for competitiveness and avoiding unnecessary regulatory burdens, then it needs to defer the proposed alcohol labelling regulations.
Jean Smullen WSET Dip has worked in the wine industry in Ireland for 34 years and is administrator for the Irish Association of Wine Suppliers (IAWS), an association representing independent wine importing companies in Ireland
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