Alcohol Review – Issue 108, November 15th 2024
Alcohol undersanding for all
In this issue: EU alcohol labelling in limbo; US post-pandemic drinking stays high; Northern Ireland readies minimum pricing; Trump 2 brings uncertainty; Industry playbook outlined; Canada may pay availability price. Opinion: Alcohol-free beer hype is unhelpful.
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News:
EU alcohol labelling in limbo: MEPs are at loggerheads over proposed EU commissioners, not least the would-be health and animal welfare commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. He gave little reassurance the EU’s stalled alcohol nutrition and health labelling plans would move forward under him. A possible resolution may be to strip him of responsibility for reproductive rights and health preparedness, but that may still leave labelling in limbo.
US post-pandemic drinking up: Elevated levels of US alcohol consumption during the covid pandemic continued into 2022, found a new study. This would be consistent with US alcohol deaths that year being almost a third higher than before the pandemic. Little has been done, but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is now proposing a tax hike of over 30%.
Northern Ireland readies minimum pricing: Stormont’s health minister said he is looking for executive approval for introducing minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Northern Ireland like that in Scotland.
Trump 2 brings uncertainty: The consequences of the second Trump administration for alcohol harm are unclear. Donald Trump is expected to give a prominent role in steering US health to prominent health conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. The industry, meanwhile, is fearful of tariff escalation. One analyst saw Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands and Diageo as possible casualties of a round of tariff raising.
Industry playbook outlined: The WHO launched an “Alcohol Policy Playbook” offering research contradicting commercial narratives and showing “no level of alcohol consumption is safe”.
Canada may pay availability price: Ontario’s widening of alcohol availability could result in a 40% rise in alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and 700 emergency room visits a day, a health coalition warned.
South African policy review: South Africa’s treasury has published a policy review paper on alcoholic beverage tax, including the possibility of introducing a minimum pricing and reforming taxes.
Opinion: [supporter preview]
Alcohol-free beer hype is unhelpful
Heavy marketing has created a buzz around alcohol-free beer diverting vital public attention from surging rates of alcohol harm. The stakes are too high to let commercial hype eclipse evidence-based action.
“What a great piece… the best, clearest thing I have read to date on the topic.”
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Chronic labelling failure: Around one-in-six alcohol labels in the UK fail to give the official 140ml per week low risk drinking guidelines eight years after their introduction, according to the alcohol industry’s own figures.
Alcohol risk made simple: The chance that alcohol causes our death increases rapidly with the amount consumed. Drinking under 140ml a week is estimated to keep the chances of an alcohol death below 1/100. The only way to make the risk zero risk is to not drink any.
Alcohol can cause brain damage and dementia: Drinking more than a small amount of alcohol increases the risk of developing dementia in later life and can cause early-onset dementia and brain damage.
Full list of shareable alcohol messages…
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