THE food critic Egon Ronay has criticised government proposals to put health warnings on alcohol. Ronay, who has sold more than two million guides, said the changes would expose Britain to “worldwide ridicule”.

Plans for health alerts on bottles and cans similar to those on cigarette packets were announced on Thursday by Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister. She said the Government was talking to the drinks industry about putting the warnings in pubs, off-licences and on supermarket shelves.

Ronay said: “Britain would be exposed to worldwide ridicule if plans by Caroline Flint to print a health notice on wine labels materialise.”

The warnings could be in place in the next one to two years. The minister said that because wine measures varied people did not always know how much they were drinking.

Ronay said that the alcohol content of wine was clear. “Jacques Chirac, chief detractor of eating in Britain, would lead the laughter. The degree of alcohol, mostly 12 to 13 per cent in ordinary wines, is already on every label.”

About four fifths of beer packaging asks people to drink sensibly but the new warning may combine information on units of alcohol with messages such as “Don’t do drunk”.

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said that the industry had been in talks with the Government for several months.

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