HESA Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Health |  | Comité permanent de la santé |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
House of Commons Standing Committee on Health Calls on the Government of Canada to Improve the Regulation of Highly Sweetened Pre-Mixed Alcoholic Beverages to Address the Health and Safety Risks that they Pose to Young Canadians.
Ottawa, June 19, 2018 -
Bill Casey, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, presented the Committee’s eighteenth report today entitled Report on Highly Sweetened Pre-Mixed Alcoholic Beverages. In tabling the report in the House of Commons, Committee Chair Bill Casey thanked the Committee’s members for their hard work in making this study possible and stated that “We all learned a great deal about the harm that highly sweetened pre-mixed alcoholic drinks have on youth, and we hope to see our recommendations acted on in the near future.”
The Committee’s report examines the health and safety risks posed by the increasing number of beverages on the market in Canada that have a relatively high alcohol and sugar content and are sold in single-serving containers. Over the course of two meetings held on 30 April and 9 May 2018, the Committee heard from Health Canada officials, public health experts, physicians, toxicology experts and industry representatives.
The Committee heard that the high sugar content and flavoring ingredients in these beverages mask their high alcohol content, while the single-serving containers encourage their rapid consumption. The rapid consumption of beverages with high alcohol content can lead to acute alcohol poisoning and even death. Witnesses suggested that the marketing of these products is expressly targeted towards youth and promotes the over-consumption of alcohol.
As a result of the concerns raised by witnesses, the Committee’s report makes 15 recommendations that focus on restricting the alcohol, sugar and caffeine content of these beverages; restricting the marketing of these beverages to youth; and introducing pricing and taxation strategies that would further discourage the consumption of these beverages.
The Committee also believes that it may be time for the Government of Canada to reconsider its approach to alcohol regulation given the rising number of deaths that are occurring across the country as a result of acute alcohol poisoning.
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