Alcohol consumption is very common and harmful in Europe, especially among young people. A 2009 Eurobarometer survey showed that one third of 15-24 years old Europeans binge drink (more than 5 drinks on one occasion) at least once a week, more than any other age group. While alcohol is known to present very serious health hazards, both on the short term (road accidents, risky behaviours…) and on the long term (addiction, cirrhosis, cancers…).
Adding health warning labels to alcohol containers could be one prevention tool to establish social understanding that alcohol is a special and hazardous commodity. There are at the moment no EU comprehensive rules on the labelling of ingredients in alcoholic beverages, neither on the ingredients nor on the healthwarnings.
This qualitative research was conducted to provide some background information on young people‟s perception toward labelling of alcoholic beverages. Focus groups were organised in six Member States (Belgium, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, and Spain) in collaboration with consumer associations active in these respective countries (CRIOC, INC, OFE, LNCF, ANPCPPS, and MAG). The subject of the discussions was the youngster‟s alcohol consumption behaviours, their opinion about many prevention health claims and whether it is necessary or not to put health warnings on alcohol beverages.
This work may serve as a baseline for future European labelling policy or in creating educational tools for an information campaign.
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