Grey Bruce’s Board of Health recently discussed a Senate bill that would call for warning labels on alcoholic products.
Bill S-254, which was tabled by Senator Patrick Brazeau, calls for the addition of warning labels to products containing alcohol.
Alcohol is classified as a Class 1 carcinogen and has been linked to at least seven types of cancer, including breast cancer and colon cancer.
Dr. Ian Arra, the Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Grey Bruce Health Unit, says that “The function of the label is to provide information to the consumer so people can make an informed decision.”
In correspondence sent to the Board of Health by its counterpart in Peterborough, it was mentioned that a recent review found alcohol labels could improve awareness of alcohol consumption, and decrease both intention to buy alcohol and the amount consumed.
The letter also points to a recent pilot project that was completed in Yukon, where products with the new warning label saw a decline in sales by 6.6%.
Arra explains “You would see, in general, a decline in the use of the substance when people know the effect or the content of the consumed substance.”
Bill S-254 would look to add warning labels on every alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content greater than 1.1% by volume.
It would also call for information about how much of a beverage would constitute a standard drink, the standard number of drinks per package, and how many drinks of a product should not be exceeded in order to avoid significant health risks.
Lastly, the new warnings would also outline information about the causal link between alcohol consumption and the development of fatal cancers.
“Having [a] universal approach to label these products and put the appropriate amount of content, whether it’s alcohol or [some] other substance in the product is for the benefit of the entire society at the end of the day,” says Arra.
The Board of Health received the correspondence as information during their May meeting.