Conservatives to scrap alcohol unit system

A Tory Government would abandon the current unit system for alcohol and replace it with labels detailing alcohol centilitre volume and calorie count, it has been revealed.

Shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, is due to give more details of the party’s Green Paper on Public Health, in a speech to the 2020 Health think-tank.

He said, Labour’s record is one of a huge rise in health problems such as binge-drinking and the Conservatives would move away from the confusing system of alcohol units.

Tim Wilson, author of independent research, The Wilson Drinks Report, said: “Mandatory labelling of alcoholic products is to be welcomed, especially given the farce we have witnessed in food labelling over the last few years.”

However, he says, replacing units of alcohol with cl of alcohol would confuse the consumer even more and may trigger a succession of problems. 

He adds: “Especially since 1 unit is precisely 1cl of alcohol. Our unit system is several years old and has worked its way into our everyday understanding of how much is safe to drink.” 

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said it is behind the Conservative emphasis on personal responsibility.

“We welcome steps to encourage consumers to make informed choices and take responsibility for their own behaviour and the opportunity for businesses to be involved in shaping and implementing agreements around responsible marketing of alcohol products," said the WSTA chief executive, Jeremy Beadles.

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