Ireland to introduce world-first alcohol health labelling policy

Labels will alert people to calories, risk of cancer and liver disease and dangers of drinking while pregnant

Ireland is to become the first country in the world to mandate health labelling on alcoholic drinks to alert people to calorie content, grams of alcohol, risks of cancer and liver disease and dangers of drinking while pregnant.

The health minister, Stephen Donnelly, signed the legislation on Monday and said he looked forward to other countries following the example – a prospect that has worried Italy’s winemakers and people in several other EU member states.