UK: Heineken to lower the alcohol content of one of its major brands

Heineken NV, the world’s third-largest brewer, will lower the alcohol content of one of its major brands in the U.K. after signing a government health agreement to help reduce misuse, Bloomber reported March, 13.

The brewer, which sells Heineken, Foster’s, Strongbow and John Smith’s, aims to remove 100 million units of alcohol from the U.K. market each year through lowering the strength of a major brand by 2013, it said in a statement, without specifying which brand.

The Amsterdam-based brewer will also show alcohol unit information on 11 million branded glasses in the U.K. by the end of this year.

“These two pledges represent a great start to what we hope will be a long term shared plan to improve alcohol awareness and reduce alcohol harm,” Stefan Orlowski, Heineken UK’s managing director, said in the statement.

16 March, 2011