Before watching any movie, Rahul Dravid always appears on-screen to teach us about the harmful effects of smoking with cricketing puns. In addition to that, the CBFC puts up large “smoking is injurious to health” signs throughout the movie.
However, nobody tries to shut down the tobacco companies or realise that those who are smoking are aware of the health hazards. And since that’s the case, this “do it but don’t do it” mentality is here to pester alcohol drinkers.
According to the Hindustan Times, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had issued a notification on March 19, 2018, to put labels on alcoholic beverages that said “consumption of alcohol is injurious to health and “be safe, don’t drink and drive”. Pawan Aggarwal, CEO of FSSAI, has said,
“Alcoholic beverages are also regulated under the food safety Act. However, there were no labelling regulations created under the Act so far because of which the manufacturers used to follow the excise laws and standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Now that we have created regulations, these will have to be adhered to.”
The regulations that Aggarwal is talking about are as follows:
1. Alcoholic beverage bottles up to 200 ml will bear the warning on the label, all in capitals, and should not be less than 1.5 mm high.
2. The letters on bottles larger than 200 ml will be 3 mm high.
3. The manufacturers have until April 1, 2019, to comply with these rules.
Apparently, the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, applied the above-mentioned regulations on toddy (palm wine) only due to its high amount of consumption in India. But due to the increasing popularity of other brands, the FSSAI has decided to put statutory warnings on everything.
The name of this new regulation is Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulation, 2018. It’s applicable on brandy, country liquor, gin, rum, vodka, whisky, alcoholic cordial, wines and beer. And, apart from the warning in giant letters, the label will also feature alcohol content and allergen warning. However, the labels of beverages containing more than 0.5% alcohol will not have any nutritional data, health claim and will steer away from words like “non-toxicating” or words implying similar meaning.
So, if possible, don’t drink at all. If not, do it responsibly. And if you forget all about responsibility and the health factors, don’t worry, because the label on your drink will be there to remind you.