Alcohol industry regulator the Portman Group has today confirmed how the alcohol industry will deliver responsible drinking information on 80% of alcohol labels on UK shelves by 2013, as pledged in March this year.

The pledge under the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal involves the industry showing clear unit labelling, the recommended daily limits and a warning about drinking when pregnant.  The companies are also encouraged to include a reference to the Drinkaware website and a message such as ‘please drink responsibly’. 

The Portman Group has said it is contacting all companies who signed up to the labelling pledge, as well as those who previously made a commitment to include health information on labels, asking them to reaffirm their labelling commitment. 

Seymour Fortescue, chairman of the Portman Group, said: “The alcohol industry is firmly committed to providing consumers with information on labels which help them make informed drinking choices.  This will be a challenging target but one that we are determined will be achieved.  We will publish details of the pledges, companies and brands involved on our website to ensure the process is as open and transparent as possible.  We will also appoint an independent third party to conduct the final monitoring exercise.

“The Portman Group will offer an advisory service for companies to check they have all the right elements in place and to offer guidance where needed.  We are also encouraging any companies that have not yet signed up to the Responsibility Deal to consider doing so as we can incorporate new pledges on the database as we move forward.”

Compliance guidance, including examples of best practice labels, and the monitoring process have also been agreed with the Department of Health and are being published today.