Plea for mandatory alcohol warnings

New Zealand women’s apathy to the dangers of drinking during pregnancy is strengthening calls from health professionals for mandatory labelling on alcoholic drinks.

Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal earlier this year found almost a quarter of women involved in a cohort study continued to drink in their first trimester despite knowing they were pregnant.

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, made up of health and primary industry ministers representing the Commonwealth, Australia, and New Zealand, will meet today to vote on a proposal to make danger stickers mandatory on booze. More than a dozen women’s health stakeholders, including the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, have penned an open letter to forum members urging them to support the proposal. But Brewers Association of New Zealand executive director Dylan Firth said the proposal seemed odd, given most alcohol companies already displayed warning labels on their products. The association, whose members DB Breweries and Lion produce more than 80 per cent of New Zealand-brewed beer, made changes to labelling a few years ago warning of the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.

‘‘To do it again, to be a little bit different, seems slightly redundant,’’ Firth said.

Any potential changes to labelling regulations could be tricky to implement and would have a cost, he said.

But NZNO professional nursing adviser Kate Weston said women had a right to know if a product could cause harm to themselves or their baby, and not all women who were pregnant, or could become pregnant, were aware of the potential harms.

‘‘Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a range of adverse consequences including miscarriage, pre-term birth and stillbirth.

‘‘The Ministry of Health estimates that one in 100 babies is born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and that’s caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb. We think it’s ridiculous to argue that warnings are unnecessary or that the tiny warnings currently on the back of less than half of all alcohol products are sufficient.’’

Weston said leaving warnings up to the alcohol industry was clearly not working.

Dietitians NZ chief executive Brittani Beavis said the current voluntary labelling scheme was ‘‘incongruous’’ with the Ministry of Health’s recommendation that there was no safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

‘‘Warnings on alcoholic drink containers may be the last opportunity for pregnant women to access messages about adverse effects of alcohol, especially our most vulnerable populations . . .’’