Lord Chelwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of concern about the effect of alcohol consumption on safety and health, when and how they will legislate to require a single method of marking the alcohol content of all alcoholic drinks, in place of the three different methods in current use, in line with Community proposals, and whether they will do so without waiting for unanimous agreement in the Community.
§ Lord BelsteadUnited Kingdom law already requires that spirits and made wine shall be labelled with their percentage of alcohol by volume or mass. Some other alcoholic drinks follow the same practice voluntarily or use other methods of indicating alcoholic strength. The Government's Committee on the Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) has recommended that all alcoholic drinks should be marked with their alcoholic strength in terms of percentage of alcohol by volume and the European Community is considering similar proposals for alcoholic strength labelling. In considering its response to the COMA recommendations, the Government are also determining the scope for national measures in advance of a Community decision.