Pregnancy warning labels on alcohol will soon become mandatory in New Zealand. The decision was made at the Australia New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation in Adelaide.
“While the alcohol industry has been voluntarily including warnings on some products for the past six years there is no consistency in the type, colour, size and design, reducing the effectiveness of the message,” Minister for Food Safety Damien O’Connor. “There has been strong and sound support from a range of groups calling for mandatory labelling and I’m pleased today we were able to take this step.”
The move brings New Zealand in line with other countries that legally require pregnancy warning labels on alcohol such as the US and France.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand, the bi-national food standards setting agency, will now develop an appropriate standard to bring back to the Forum for approval.
