“Smoking kills”, “Smoking causes deadly lung cancer” or “Smoking shortens life” are some of the messages that have been present on Spanish tobacco packets since 2003. Messages that, perhaps, in a few years we will also see in bottles of wine, beer, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.
This is how the alarm has gone off from Ireland, which will be the first European country that by 2026 claims that all alcoholic beverages carry a label that includes grams of alcohol, calories and warnings that alcohol can cause cancer and liver diseases, with phrases “Drinking alcohol causes liver cancer” or “There is a direct relationship between alcohol and fatal cancers.”
This was confirmed on March 22 by the Irish Minister of Health, Stephen Donnellyand thus has stirred up various sectors and producers of alcoholic beverages that have been preparing to stand up in this regard for years.
However, the European Committee of Wine Companies already filed a complaint with the European Commission a few days ago. In it they indicate that “the provisions included in the Irish labeling regulations are incompatible with European Union law” and that, furthermore, “constitute a unjustified and disproportionate barrier for trade under Community law”.
There are many medical associations that have applauded a measure that they consider necessary, but the truth is that the opposition clashes head-on with the lobby of alcoholic beverages. Especially, that of wine, which has already set this machinery in motion to prevent Irish law spill over to the rest of the European Union.
They do it under the umbrella of undermining the single market, but in the background there is the fear of a criminalization of alcohol and the risk of having an impact on sales. However, various entities and wine employers also point out that this new label puts the sector at risk, which they say acts as a cohesive and fixing element of the territory in rural areas.
What remains true is that there is no safe consumption of alcohol and that the The only safe consumption would be not to consume it, because the hypothetical advantages that it has -all of them disassembled- dissipate when we are already ingesting a poison. It is obvious, but it is necessary to repeat it to end the myth of the glass of wine for its healthy virtues or for the beer itself.
However, the companies dedicated to the sector try to iron out a labeling implementation, especially because the alcohol imports into European territory They should not pass through that filter. In other words, an American beer, a Japanese whiskey or an Argentine wine would not have to correct their labeling. Contrary to what would happen with a French wine, a Polish vodka or a German beer.
The other factor that worries the sector is that the distinction in labeling it does not aim to differentiate between moderate consumption and abusive consumption, which they believe also implies demonization in the same way. In the same way, the world of wine protests that the social and economic factor that it entails is not taken into account, which in some cases they consider to be the “economic engine of many regions”.
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Arguments for and against are not lacking. Now it remains to be seen if Ireland’s decision is permeating the rest of Europe and finally alcohol will have to go through the hoop of labeling itself like this or, on the contrary, each country will be able to make a tunic out of its cape.
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