Saskatchewan is considering putting warning and consumption labels on alcohol products after it was recommended in a guidance report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
“The evidence has certainly changed regarding health-related harms caused by beverage alcohol,” said University of Saskatchewan associate medical professor Peter Butt.
The alcohol guidance report had not been updated since 2011.
“We knew, from another study we did, that people who were drinking from our 2011 guidelines were potentially coming to harm,” Butt said.
He also served as a co-chair on the updated guidance report.
The report advocates putting labels on beverage containers that inform consumers how many standard drinks are in one package and warning them against drinking more than two in one day.
“The risk for those who consume two standard drinks or less per week is low,” read the report. “It is moderate for those who consume between three and six standard drinks per week, and it is increasingly high for those who consume above six standard drinks per week.”
“This isn’t about finger-wagging and telling people how much they should drink,” Butt said. “Rather, it’s about educating the public.”
The new label recommendations would come at a substantial cost to Saskatchewan breweries.
“I would want to know that it would have a significant impact,” said Mark Heise, president of Saskatchewan’s Craft Brewers Association.
“I’m not sure that slapping (a warning) on there is going to have a lasting impact besides costing an industry a bunch of money.”
Heise, owner of Regina’s Rebellion Brewing, said that they already include warnings on their cans discouraging drinking and driving and irresponsible drinking habits.
“I think we do a decent job of trying to educate consumers and just be a good model in the community.”
With the rise of products such as craft beer, the report states that the alcohol in one can or glass could actually be considered more than one standard drink, which is where the new labels would come in.
“It’s really hard for people to count how many standard drinks,” Butt said.
A standard drink in Canada is 13.45 grams.
“You need to pull out a calculator in order to understand it.”
Heise said that while he is aware that alcohol consumption does have an effect on the likelihood of being diagnosed with cancer or other ailments mentioned in the report, he said that it shouldn’t be considered the only factor.
“There are typically correlations between overconsumption of alcohol and other unhealthy lifestyle choices that contribute to that,” Heise said.
“The folks that are not choosing a healthy lifestyle … publishing that they should only have two drinks a week is not going to stop them from doing that.”