Fifty-eight per cent of Queenslanders think that pregnancy warning labels should be placed on all alcohol products to replace the alcohol industry’s current ineffective consumer information messages. Queensland should support mandatory pregnancy warning labels and join other Australian and New Zealand Governments in tasking Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to develop a standard for an effective label that addresses the wording, placement and label size. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a range of adverse consequences including miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weights and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
These harms are preventable and warning labels on alcohol products are a cost-effective method of informing consumers about these risks. A label that does not raise awareness about the health harms will not change behaviour and instead acts as a promotion exercise for the alcohol industry. Queensland is a member of the Forum on Food Regulation (Forum), which is responsible for food regulation in Australia and New Zealand. At the next Forum meeting on 24 November, members will be considering the future of alcohol pregnancy warning labels. It is critical that Queensland supports the call for the introduction of mandatory pregnancy warning labels.
Suggested Tweets
In the suggested tweets below please tag the Queensland FoFR members responsible for making the decision on Friday –Ministers Hon Dr Anthony Lynham and Hon Cameron Dick. We also encourage you to tag their Shadow Ministers John-Paul Langbroek and Dale Last.
Tweets you can share:
• Join other jurisdictions at Forum on Food Regulation: support call for end of ineffective industry messages & introduction of mandatory pregnancy warning labels on all #alcohol products #QLDpol #qldvotes #FASD @camerondickqld @DrAnthonyLynham @jplangbroek @DaleLast1
• An #alcohol label that doesn’t raise awareness of #health harms acts as promotion exercise for alcohol industry: consumers need #evidence-based mandatory pregnancy warning labels #qldpol #qldvotes #FASD @camerondickqld @DrAnthonyLynham @jplangbroek @DaleLast1
• Who else will lend their support to this significant intervention? A label that does not raise awareness about the health harms will not change behaviour and instead acts as a promotion exercise for the #alcohol industry. #qldpol #qldvotes @QLDGreens @camerondickqld @DrAnthonyLynham @jplangbroek @DaleLast1
QCAA will continue sharing content about the Platform on social media, and would appreciate it if you could also encourage your networks to share with their connections.
You can support us by: 1. Creating your own tweets (you can use the images attached) 2. Using the tweets below 3. Re-tweeting @QLDCAA tweets on Twitter
Thank you for your support in promoting these necessary and popular measures to reduce alcohol harm.
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