Would you know which is the soft drink?

Industry admits firms are still aiming 'designer' alcohol at children as school survey shows high level of abuse

The Portman Group, which represents 95 per cent of the United Kingdom drinks industry, yesterday admitted that some companies are breaking its code of practice in promoting the new alcoholic "soft drinks" in such a way as to appeal to children and teenagers.

The admission by Portman's director, Dr John Rae, that the industry "ought to be better at not selling to youngsters", came as new research highlighted the role of "designer" drinks in tempting youngsters to try alcohol.

The alcoholic soft drinks appeal to schoolchildren primarily because of their sweet taste, but their marketing, as the preferred choice of cool, sophisticated, glamourous, fun-loving young adults, is significant too, according to addiction experts.

The study of more than 750 children aged 12 to 15 in Dundee found that about one in five said they had been drunk by the first year of secondary school, rising to more than half by the age of 14. Children and teenagers who drank white ciders and fruit wines, with names such as Ice Dragon, TNT and Flavours for Ravers, drank more often and were more likely to have been drunk than those who had tried beer, ordinary wine and spirits, according to the report in the British Medical Journal. Their consumption of alcohol units overall was also higher.

Dr Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, which carried out the study, said the level of drunkenness reported among young people in the study "must give cause for concern".

He warned that the expansion of the drinks market into alcoholic carbonates such as Hooper's Hooch and Two Dogs would accelerate the problem.

There are more than a dozen alcoholic colas, lemonades and ciders with "soft drink"-type names now being sold in the UK. The alcohol content ranges from 4.2 to 5.5 per cent. Manufacturers say they are aimed at lager drinkers, but Alcohol Concern has labelled them as a "cynical attempt... to hook young people on alcohol". A report last year by the Royal College of Physicians concluded that alcohol was "at least as great a threat as illegal drugs to child health and welfare".

A spokesman for Alcohol Concern said yesterday there was growing concern about "alcopops", particularly the names of the drinks and how they are promoted. "We have sent a catalogue of our complaints to the Portman Group. Their new code of practice relating to promotion of alcoholic drinks is clearly being violated at will by manufacturers," he said.

This includes complaints that the names K and Diamond White (made by Taunton Cider) are terms used by young people to describe ecstasy-like drugs, while Ravers (Intercontinental Brands) alludes to the rave scene which is dominated by teenagers and associated with illegal drugs. The labels used on K, which glow under ultra-violet light common in clubs and raves, have also been criticised, while the cartoon figure used to promote Hooper's Hooch (Bass) is "more likely to appeal to under-18s than adults", according to Alcohol Concern.

Dr Rae said that the names of the manufacturers of the alcoholic soft drinks which flouted the code of practice would be detailed in a report from the Portman Group due in September. He added: "Misuse of drink in this age group is very worrying but to blame it primarily on designer drinks has yet to be demonstrated.

"There has been research which shows that youngsters are not in fact majoring on these drinks... actually teenagers are going for the strongest stuff they can get for the least money; cider or the strong beers are more likely to be responsible than the designer drinks."