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Ireland’s upper house last week passed a long-awaited bill introducing minimum alcohol prices and requiring warnings of alcohol’s cancer risks and the protection of children from marketing.

According to the bill passed on Friday drinks labels will also need to list their ingredients for the first time. Ads as well as labels will have to include warnings of the cancer risk.

To stop children being weaned onto alcohol brands, shops will be required to hide alcohol marketing behind a 1.5m-high screen.

The bill will return to the Dáil, the lower house, next year. The government first introduced the bill in December 2015 and has been the subject of fierce lobbying since.

Ireland is the second country in the world to pass laws to require alcohol is sold above a minimum price after Scotland became the first in November.

Only Canada’s Yukon has so far introduced cancer warnings, and that is in a trial. ■

More than 3m people in the UK plan to turn their alcohol clocks to zero for a month from January 1st,  joining an increasingly popular annual initiative to realise the multiple benefits of lower levels of drinking.

Alcohol Concern’s Dry January provides information, support and extra motivation for those taking a break. There is a free app to track our progress and the chance to raise money for charity. 

The popularity of the annual lay-off is easily explained, says the charity’s chief executive Richard Piper: “The benefits are astounding”. Around half of those who take part find they lose weight, two-thirds sleep better and over three-quarters save money. It may also lift depression and anxiety.

Parents and the middle-aged were the most likely to be joining in this year, according to a survey of 2,000 people, with parents of more than two children particularly keen, as are people in full-time employment and those from the North East and Northern Ireland.

“Alcohol is the biggest cause of death, ill-health and disability for people aged 15-49 in the UK–but these tragedies are all totally avoidable,” says Piper. It is among the reasons the annual reset has the support of Public Health England.

The benefits of a mass alcohol reset can add up. It contributes significantly to an annual cost to the NHS or around £3.5bn, or £120 per taxpayer. The burden reaches its peak in December as Christmas parties end in injury, alcohol poisoning and violence.

Success is not uniform, although we can still benefit even if we do not make it to the end. In the past around two-thirds of participants made it through January without drinking any alcohol, while nearly three-quarters were sticking to lower levels of harmful drinking six months later.

Realising the full benefits of not drinking much alcohol can often take longer. Typically getting rid of withdrawal symptoms like emotional instability and memory issues takes between three months and a year. ■

One-in-six British parents allows their under-15 to drink, contrary to official advice, with the educated, employed and white more likely to do so, according to a UK study.

The official guidance is that children should not drink alcohol before the age of 15, and from then up to the age of 17 only at a very low level, at most one day a week. Exposure to alcohol at any age tends to make us worse at controlling our future intake.

By the age of 14 around half of children in the UK had tried more than a few sips. Drinking below 14 is associated with greater chances of injury, involvement in violence, and suicidal thoughts and attempts.

Overall the level of drinking among children and young adults seems to be declining, perhaps because of technology. ■

Estonia has received plaudits from a pan-European coalition for its “courage and persistence” in focusing the bloc’s attention on reducing alcohol harm during its six months holding the rotating EU presidency.

The Baltic state helped convince EU members to request: a new EU alcohol strategy; monitoring and evaluation of current measures on online advertising; a framework for a new joint action plan; more research on cross-border trade; and better provisions for alcohol labelling by the end of 2019.

“It is high time for European consumers to finally be told what is in their drinks,” said Mariann Skar, head of the European Alcohol Policy Alliance. “Having heard some disturbing rumours about QR codes, we are very concerned that the industry is taking us all for fools.”

But it is not certain the European Commission will heed the request raised during the Estonian presidency, with previous requests meeting with “hesitancy”, according to Lauri Beekmann, who leads the Nordic Alcohol and Drug Policy Network.

Estonia’s six-month presidency ends this month. Next year it will be held by Bulgaria and then Austria. ■

 

The owner of Orkney’s Stromness Hotel confirmed it will not sell alcohol as part of a nascent socially-engaged hotel chain.

Jersey-based Payman Investment already owns a dozen hotels and has three more in the pipeline, says CEO Na’im Anis Payman, on a call from Albania.

“There is no huge money pot,” says Payman, saying the chain’s expansion is funded from bank financing.

Its eclectic portfolio already offers stays in locations from Stoke-on-Trent to Ulaanbaatar and points between.

Payman follows baha’i, a faith barring the consumption and sale of alcohol, but he notes his view also fits with science.

The company’s alcohol-free approach is best seen as part of a human and women’s rights agenda, says chief impact officer Tahirih Danesh.

The details of Stromness’s offer are still being finalised, but a common feature of all the hotels will be strong ties with local communities, Danesh says.

It will definitely include serving soothing alcohol-free drinks in the public Flattie Bar. Other possible options will include a spa, massage, yoga and tai chi.

The hotel will not be entirely alcohol-free either, because guests at events like weddings will be allowed to bring their own supply.

Payman says the clarified alcohol-free plan now has significant public and private support, having caused a rumpus when first floated in August. ■