Sugar-sweetened beverages-alcoholic: Ottawa will launch consultations

Photo Antoine Lacroix

QMI agency

Sunday, 18 march, 2018 19:31

UPDATE
Sunday, 18 march, 2018 19:31

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The federal government will conduct consultations on sugar-sweetened beverages with high alcoholic content, in the wake of the tragedy concerning the young Athena Gervais, who would be dead in Laval after they have consumed it.

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The federal minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, is concerned about the alcohol content of these drinks popular with young people, which may reach 12 %.

“The goal is to reduce the rate of alcohol and / or format of these products that encourage excessive consumption”, mentioned by e-mail the press officer of the minister, Thierry Bélair, QMI Agency Sunday.

The government of Quebec has already announced that sugary drinks containing more than 7 % of alcohol will not be sold in convenience stores and markets of food, but rather to the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). This measure would also increase the price, according to the minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux. The province also wants to add administrative monetary penalties where there is non-compliance with the regulation respecting promotion, advertising and educational programs relating to alcoholic beverages, to the advertisements that target young people on social media.

On average, seven young Quebecers aged 12 to 24 years old are found on a daily basis to the emergency room because of severe alcohol poisoning, show data presented on Tuesday by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

The types of alcohol consumed by these young people have not been identified, but the Institute pointed out that three-quarters of the patients had drunk beverages with high alcohol content.

“The available data do not allow to conclude that the products of high sugar content and alcohol are the main cause of the cases of acute poisonings seen in emergency rooms in Quebec by 2017. Nevertheless, their analysis highlights a problematic concern which justifies to strengthen the actions of prevention”, has analyzed the INSPQ.

According to the INSPQ, “the volume of sales of products the most alcoholic (at least 11% alcohol) increased more than triple (319 %) between 2016 and 2017”.