When asked by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee to name companies that were failing to stick to the code, Dr Will Cavendish, NHS director of health and wellbeing, highlighted Diageo as one of the worst offenders. According to Cavendish, only 3% of all drinks brands comply fully with the code, which will be reviewed next March.
The committee, which is conducting an investigation into reducing alcohol harm, is now considering summoning Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh to appear before it.
Diageo, which owns brands including Smirnoff, Guinness and Gordon's, said that Cavendish's comments were 'wholly misleading, unfair and deeply troubling'; it has written a letter to the committee to state its case.
A spokeswoman added that Diageo was the first company to unit-label in 1999, began placing responsible drinking reminders on labels in 2005 and is calling for the voluntary code to be made mandatory to avoid what she referred to as 'patchy compliance and consumer confusion'.
'No other company has done as much to promote responsible drinking as we have. It is a travesty to find our name being abused in this way,' she said.
Other Diageo responsible-drinking initiatives include Drinkiq.com. The site shows how it has addressed drink-related issues, provides facts about alcohol and offers tips about making responsible drinking choices. It is also a supporter of The Drinkaware Trust, which last month launched a £1m awareness campaign suggesting that re-cycling a large number of bottles could signal that a person has a drink problem.
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