Jason Dowling
December 30, 2007
VICHEALTH wants to ban the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and outlaw wine-tasting in the aisles, saying the trends could worsen Victoria's already serious problems with booze.
A chorus of experts fear the display of alcohol on grocery shelves sends the wrong message to children and could be harmful to recovering alcoholics and addicts.
About 100 Melbourne supermarkets, including IGA, ALDI, Coles and Safeway stores, now sell alcohol in their grocery sections — a move critics say could "normalise" the sale of alcohol.
Brian Vandenberg, senior program adviser for alcohol harm reduction at VicHealth, the Government's health promotion agency, criticised the trend.
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