Responsible Retailing Forum Recognized for Efforts to Combat Underage Drinking

Receives Research Grant to Further Develop New Model to Prevent Alcohol Sales
to Minors

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The Responsible Retailing
Forum (RRF), a leading organization in preventing underage sales of
age-restricted products, announced today that it has been awarded a Small
Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
The grant will allow the RRF further to develop a new model for preventing
alcohol sales to underage and intoxicated customers, bolstering RRF's ongoing
efforts to curb underage drinking. The new method has already been piloted
tested and demonstrated strong improvements in age-verification rates in pilot
studies in New Mexico, Iowa and Massachusetts.

The model -- based upon recommendations in the 2002 Report on Best Practices
for Responsible Retailing prepared for the federal Center for Substance Abuse
and Prevention -- involves a holistic approach to unlawful sales prevention by
not only providing tools and effective systems for the store environment but
also encouraging cooperation among retailers and their suppliers, regulators
and public health and safety in a cooperative, problem-solving approach to
underage access and alcohol abuse.

"The grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse will go a long way in our
efforts to combat underage drinking as we tackle the complex challenges of
underage access and alcohol abuse," said RRF President Brad Krevor, Ph.D.
"This will enable us to build upon past successes and maintain the momentum we
have established. Diageo's support of the Responsible Retailing Forum and its
leadership have been critical to this success."

Although the vast majority of kids who drink get their alcohol from people
they know, 15 percent to 30 percent of teens report that they purchase alcohol
beverages from retailers directly*. For this reason, the RRF and industry
partners like Diageo work closely with retailers and others to strengthen
efforts to prevent youth access to alcohol. Diageo helped launch RRF in 2003,
and has provided unrestricted grants to support its work since then.

"As a company with zero tolerance for underage drinking, Diageo is proud of
its longstanding partnership with the Responsible Retailing Forum," said Gary
Zizka, Vice President Public Policy, Diageo NA. "This grant will bring RRF
and the industry one step closer to keeping alcohol out of the hands of
underage drinkers."

The Principal Investigator for the award is Brad Krevor, Ph.D., RRF's
President. Principal consultants are William DeJong, Ph.D., of the Boston
University School of Public Health and Joel Grube, Ph.D., Director of the
Prevention Research Center, PIRE, both of whom assisted in the development and
evaluation of the model. Working with RRF to field test the model and evaluate
its potential in other cities will be the NM Alcohol and Gaming Division, the
Vermont Department of Liquor Control, and the city licensing commissions in
Waltham, MA and Madison, WI. American Beverage Licensees and its state
chapters will also assist in representing the needs and interests of
licensees.

About the Responsible Retailing Forum
The RRF brings together public and private stakeholders - regulatory and
enforcement agencies; attorneys general; public health agencies and advocates;
retailers and their associations; distributors and producers; training
organizations; and researchers - for the dual purposes of (1) identifying,
rigorously evaluating and sharing Best Practices for responsible retailing,
and (2) examining responsible retailing policy from the perspective of the
various diverse stakeholders. For more information about the activities of the
RRF visit www.rrforum.org.

About Diageo
Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world's leading premium drinks business with an
outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines and
beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B,
Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and
Sterling Vineyards wines.

Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the
world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the
London Stock Exchange (DGE).

For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit
us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking
through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit
DRINKiQ.com.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

* 1 Century Council. National Research on Underage Alcohol Access and Parental
Discussions, Washington, D.C., 2002; Dent, C., Grube, J.W., Biglan, A.
Community Level Alcohol Availability and Enforcement of Possession Laws as
predictors of Youth Drinking. Preventive Medicine, 2005, 40,355-362.

SOURCE Responsible Retailing Forum

Brad S. Krevor, Ph.D., Responsible Retailing Forum, +1-781-647-0858,
krevor@rrforum.org; or Alexandra Brousseau, FD, +1-212-850-5778,
alexandra.brousseau@fd.com