Responsible drinking labels to go on cans and bottles of beer

British brewers plan to label cans and bottles of beer sold in the UK with a "responsible drinking" message. The labels will also show how many units of alcohol the drinks contain.

This move is part of the UK beer industry's drive to support the Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy.

In a survey of major brewers, the British Beer and Pub Association came to the decision that 85 per cent of canned and bottled beer would be unit-labelled by the end of this year, while messages to encourage responsible drinking will appear on 84 per cent of the products.

Of Britain's 17 major brewers many have already launched the labelling scheme.

Latest Government guidelines recommend a limit of two to three units per day for women and three to four for men.

The British Beer and Pub Association says that bottled and canned beer represents 44 per cent of all beer sold in Britain.