Hot on the heels of Nanny's anti smoking drive, it now seems that she is planning to launch another anti booze drive.
This time Nanny feels that by labelling booze with health warnings, we will all drink less.
Nanny's chum Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, recently announced plans to place health alerts on bottles and cans similar to those on cigarette packets. She said that Nanny was talking to the drinks industry about putting the warnings in pubs, off-licences and on supermarket shelves.
I am not alone in feeling that this is a total waste of time and money.
No less a person that Egon Ronay, the food critic, has in effect called Nanny's scheme bollocks. He says that the changes would expose Britain to "worldwide ridicule".
Ronay said:
"Britain would be exposed to worldwide ridicule if plans by Caroline Flint to print a health notice on wine labels materialise."
Unfortunately, Nanny has already caused this country to be subject to worldwide ridicule.
Nanny believes that because wine measures varied, people did not always know how much they were drinking.
Ronay quite rightly points out:
"Jacques Chirac, chief detractor of eating in Britain, would lead the laughter.
The degree of alcohol, mostly 12 to 13 per cent in ordinary wines, is already on every label."
One of Nanny's latest warning messages is
"Don't do drunk".
Effective it is not!
As with cigarettes the messages will be ignored; a man and a woman, each with a cigarette packet. The woman's packet says that fags will reduce the chances of pregnancy, the man's says that the fags will reduce the sperm count.
Solution?
Swap the packets!
As with the majority of Nanny's "ideas", this is all a load of old tosh!
Entirely predictable though. Having banned smoking in pubs so that everyone can enjoy a drink, evidence from Scotland and Irleand shows that alcohol consumpiton goes up. So now Nanny has to do something about that.
ReplyDeleteIt's not clear how the warning would be displayed in a pub though - over the door? etched into the bottom of the glass?!
I have noticed that in France, wherever alcohol is mentioned (for example, if a bottle is being offered as a prize in the local Bingo) it is always followed by the phrase "to be consumed in moderation". I do not know if this is a legal requirement or if it is just the norm.
ReplyDeleteI would assume it was a form of sponsorship, though as yet neither Microsoft Autoroute or Google Earth have found for me a town in France called Moderation. But if it exists and people have to go their to consume their prizes I would guess it must be a bit like Nottingham and a Friday Night.
ReplyDeleteOr a Saturday night.
Come to think of it on just about any night.