Food safety Ministers in Australia and New Zealand have listened to the community and put the health and safety of families first by agreeing to introduce an effective health warning on alcohol products.
Ministers have today agreed to the recommendation of Food Standards Australia New Zealand which is a red, black and white warning, with the signal wording ‘pregnancy warning’.
“Collectively, we genuinely thank the Food Ministers for implementing a warning that will benefit the community and reduce Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD),” said FARE CEO Caterina Giorgi.
The Ministers were encouraged to do the right thing by almost four thousand community leaders and advocates and more than 180 community, health, medical and research organisations.
“This decision made today by Ministers will improve the health and wellbeing of Australian families and communities for generations to come. It’s commendable that Ministers are now introducing a pregnancy health warning which the evidence has proven will effectively alert people to the significant risks of alcohol exposure in pregnancy,” Ms Giorgi said.
“Having a red, black and white label is so important so the message can be understood by all Australians regardless of their literacy levels or cultural backgrounds,” she said.
NOFASD Australia COO Sophie Harrington says, “Tens of thousands of Australian families who are impacted by FASD are celebrating today’s decision, because they know how significantly this lifelong disability affects the health and wellbeing of our loved ones”.
“This new mandatory label will go a long way to improve community awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol throughout pregnancy, and will result in fewer babies born with FASD in years to come,” Ms Harrington said.
