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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Drinks industry facing tough laws | Drinks industry facing tough laws |
| (9 minutes later) | |
| Ministers have told the drinks industry to act more responsibly or face new laws governing alcohol sales. | Ministers have told the drinks industry to act more responsibly or face new laws governing alcohol sales. |
| A review of retailers showed many were not following a voluntary code calling on them to display details on units and to encourage sensible drinking. | A review of retailers showed many were not following a voluntary code calling on them to display details on units and to encourage sensible drinking. |
| Ministers have responded by launching a consultation on proposed laws covering happy hours, promotion and labelling. | Ministers have responded by launching a consultation on proposed laws covering happy hours, promotion and labelling. |
| It comes as figures suggest the scale of alcohol-related hospital admissions was much higher than thought. | |
| Office for National Statistics data had suggested the figure for hospital admissions was just over 200,000. | Office for National Statistics data had suggested the figure for hospital admissions was just over 200,000. |
| Obviously individuals have to take responsibility for their drinking, but others, including the industry, also have a role to play Dawn Primarolo, public health minister | |
| But this only covered illness caused directly by alcohol such as liver disease. | But this only covered illness caused directly by alcohol such as liver disease. |
| Department of Health figures for England showed that when deaths from cancer, heart disease and strokes were taken into account the total topped 800,000 a year. | Department of Health figures for England showed that when deaths from cancer, heart disease and strokes were taken into account the total topped 800,000 a year. |
| Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said the response to the voluntary code - parts of which were introduced in 1998 - was "disappointing". | Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said the response to the voluntary code - parts of which were introduced in 1998 - was "disappointing". |
| "The evidence clearly makes this the right time to consult on a far tougher approach to the alcohol industry. | "The evidence clearly makes this the right time to consult on a far tougher approach to the alcohol industry. |
| "Obviously individuals have to take responsibility for their drinking, but others, including the industry, also have a role to play." | "Obviously individuals have to take responsibility for their drinking, but others, including the industry, also have a role to play." |
| The consultation, which will run until October, covers a range of initiatives - many of which the industry was meant to be following under the voluntary code which has been developed over the past decade. | |
| Curbs | |
| It raises the prospect on curbs being introduced on happy hours, checkout displays in shops and labelling, showing how many units each drink contains and what the recommended drinking levels are. | |
| On labelling, the industry was first asked to display the number of units in each drink back in 1998, but a recent survey by consultants KPMG showed 43% of products did not display the information. | |
| The review also revealed that just 3% were displaying the labelling scheme in its entirety. | |
| However, the deadline for the recommended limits is not until the end of the year. | |
| Another review is planned to coincide with that, by which time the government's review of the impact of pricing on alcohol consumption will have been completed by Sheffield University. | |
| This is seen as a key piece of evidence as expert have claimed that the rises in consumption seen since the 1970s is intrinsically linked to falling prices. |