Alcopop on sale next to sweets

THE GOVERNMENT is to introduce tough new measures to curb underage drinking, following revelations that alcopops have been sold on the chocolate racks of corner shops.

George Howarth, the Home Office Minister, is to recommend new action to stop children obtaining alcohol outside the home, in a report to be published next month. He is concerned that children as young as nine have been found drunk, after getting the sugary alcoholic drinks known as alcopops.

The Ministerial Committee on Underage Drinking - which includes ministers from the Home Office, Department of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and DTI - will propose moves to make it easier for police and trading standards officers to clamp down on shops selling beer and alcopops to minors.

The Government also wants new laws to stop adults from buying alcohol for under-18s who are not their own children.

George Howarth is currently considering whether to introduce a government watchdog on underage drinking or to leave it to the drinks companies to regulate themselves.

At the moment, the Portman Group, a self-regulatory body funded by the drinks industry, polices breaches of a code which prevents drinks companies appealing to children with images of toys, sex or drugs.

A report by the Portman Group, to be published tomorrow, reveals that a retailer in north London has been investigated for stocking alcoholic "jelly" on its sweets counter.

The shop in Stoke Newington was displaying "the original jello shot", a sweet alcohol-based jelly sold in small plastic pots. The product, under investigation in its own right by the Portman Group, comes in different flavours and colours. It is made by New Millennium Products, a small manufacturer.

Trading standards officers were sent in, and the shop was told to stop the display following an official warning from the Portman Group.

"The retailer was selling alcoholic jellies next to children's sweets," said Mark Bennett of Alcohol Concern, the national charity on alcohol misuse which spotted the sale. "These are pretty unpleasant products in themselves."

The revelation comes in the Portman Group's quarterly report on investigations against drinks companies. The organisation, which is sufficiently influential to persuade retailers to refuse to stock a drink, also ruled against Whitbread, the brewer, for using marijuana leaves on the label of an alcopop called Wild Brew.

The group has also told shops not to stock a purple alcopop called Stunn Potent Passion because its name can be associated with "aggression" and "sexual success." The alcopop has purple packaging featuring lightning striking, and the wording "strictly for adults only!"

The Portman Group's code is designed to stamp out the excesses of alcopops marketing but the Government remains concerned that drinks companies are deliberately appealing to children with the bright packaging, fruity taste and symbols of youth-culture.