Australian brewers tackle binge drinkers

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Two of Australia's biggest brewers will end production of "energy" drinks with caffeine and high-alcohol content because of growing concerns over binge drinking.

The Australian National Council on Drugs reported in February that 20 percent of 16-year-olds drink at harmful levels in any given week, while one in 200 children aged 12 also drink at harmful levels. The legal age for drinking alcohol is 18.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week announced a A$53 million (24.4 million pound) campaign to end an epidemic of binge drinking.

The National Drug Research Institute estimates that one Australian teenager dies and more than 60 are hospitalized each week from alcohol-related causes.

Brewers Foster's and Lion Nathan both said on Thursday they would voluntarily stop manufacturing and marketing alcoholic beverages containing "energy" additives such as caffeine and taurine.

They also said they would voluntarily limit "Ready To Drink" (RTD) bottles and cans of alcohol to two standard drinks per single serve and 7 percent alcohol by volume across all RTDs.

"We recognize that there is a level of community concern about these products and therefore we have decided to remove them from circulation," Lion Nathan Australia managing director Andrew Reeves said in a statement.

Most Australian beers have a 4.8 percent alcohol content. RTD beverages contain 5 to 9 percent alcohol.

Church and social groups have criticized the alcohol industry's promotion of RTDs, nicknamed "Alcopops" because their sweetened taste masks the taste of alcohol, making them more appealing to young drinkers, especially females.

They have also criticized alcoholic energy drinks, which enable consumers to drink for longer.

Foster's said it recognized that the community was concerned that drinkers could abuse RTDs and energy drinks, adding Australia's drinking culture had to change to moderate excessive alcohol consumption.

"We believe strongly that the real issue is not 'bad' products, but rather poor drinking behavior," Jamie Odell, managing director of Foster's Australia, Asia & Pacific.

The Rudd government plans to launch a A$20 million TV, radio and Internet campaign starting in 2008 that will confront young people with the costs and consequences of binge drinking. The campaign will be similar to campaigns against smoking and AIDS.

(Editing by David Fogarty)