EU says alcohol industry must not target youth

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's health chief urged the alcohol industry on Wednesday to avoid targeting children and young people in their marketing campaigns to reduce the numbers of alcohol-related deaths.

The EU is the heaviest drinking region in the world.

Alcohol contributed to the deaths of 195,000 people in the 27-country bloc every year and more than 10,000 deaths were due to alcohol-related road accidents, with young people especially at risk, EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said.

Several major drink manufacturers -- including U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch, Bacardi-Martini, the world's largest alcoholic drinks group Diageo and Dutch brewer Heineken International -- have publicly pledged to curb alcohol abuse, but more action is needed, she said.

"We need to be very ambitious in this area," Vassiliou said during the European Alcohol and Health Forum in Brussels.

"I expect the alcoholic beverages industry to market their products responsibly and not to directly or indirectly target children and young people," she told reporters. "Committing to action is one thing, delivering is another thing."

Marketing and advertising were among the major responsibilities for the alcoholic drinks industry, she said.

The forum is similar to the self-regulation approach that Brussels used in 2006 with the food industry to fight obesity, rather than proposing tough laws like those in place to combat smoking. So far, EU laws were not needed on alcohol, she said.

"I think it is very premature to do that. I think we should give the process a chance to see how it works," Vassiliou said.