The Food Regulation Forum has ruled that labels warning of the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy are to become mandatory on alcoholic beverages.
The Forum consists of Federal, State and Territory Health Ministers.
According to the Forum, the new labels will say: ‘Pregnancy Warning: Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby’ and will include an image of a pregnant woman with the words in red and black letters.
The beverages industry has been given three years to introduce the labels.
Minister for Health, Roger Cook said the move was a significant step in reducing the harmful effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
“Effective mandatory labelling to increase awareness of the dangers of alcohol during pregnancy is long overdue,” Mr Cook said.
“We know that alcohol is harmful to unborn babies and we know that consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is having a damaging effect on our communities in Western Australia and across Australia.”
He said that in particular he hoped the move would contribute to limiting the incidence of FASDs (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders).
FASDs are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy.
These effects can include physical problems and problems with behaviour and learning. Often, a person with an FASD has a mix of these problems, the Minister said.
