Nigerian Group Urges Alcohol Warning Labels

A Nigerian public health group has urged the country’s Codex National Contact Point to support new international work on alcohol labels when delegates meet at the 49th session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling in Ottawa on May 13, arguing that consumers should get clearer warnings about health risks tied to drinking.

The Renevlyn Development Initiative, known as RDI, said the Codex process offers a chance to begin formal work on labeling rules for alcoholic beverages. Codex is the joint food standards body run by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. RDI said alcohol should not continue to be treated like an ordinary food product in international standards, given what it described as strong scientific evidence of harm.

In a statement released in Lagos, Philip Jakpor, RDI’s executive director, said governments should back labels on every bottle and reject what he called unclear or unreadable packaging. He said consumers have a right to information about products they buy and use, and that the absence of visible warning labels on alcohol bottles is no longer acceptable.

The group pointed to findings from the World Health Organization in January 2023 saying there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. It also cited long-standing cancer research classifying alcohol as a Group 1 human carcinogen. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, alcohol has been linked to at least seven cancers.

RDI said Nigeria should support a new work item proposed in Codex document CX/FL 26/49/8, which would amend or revise three existing Codex texts that currently treat alcohol like other foods. The group also called for an electronic working group, chaired by Tanzania and open to interested members and observers, to draft changes for review at CCFL50.

The organization said any new work should include health warnings, including cancer warnings, and should affirm that people have the right to know about risks linked to products they consume. It also urged delegates to resist efforts to narrow the discussion to alcohol strength alone or to rely on QR codes and electronic labels instead of printed health information on the package.

RDI said it had drawn on a policy brief from Movendi International, a global movement focused on alcohol prevention, as a guide for governments taking part in the Ottawa talks. The group said Nigeria should support measures that put health ahead of industry interests and help shape future national laws as well as international standards.