After Congress allocated $1.3 million to the Department of Agriculture and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to study alcohol’s impact on consumer health, the findings have been released in time to inform the 2025-2030 U.S. Dietary Guidelines. NASEM’s findings were published today in the Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health and reported on by POLITICO.

Stephen Kent of the Consumer Choice Center praised the National Academies’ process to research on alcohol, saying,

“There has been intense downward pressure by anti-alcohol activists within the World Health Organization to steer government recommendations against any and all consumption of alcohol, even at responsible levels. Consumers rely on unbiased government research to inform their dietary choices and NASEM delivered on their Congressionally backed mandate to review alcohol’s impact on individual health.”

The Biden Administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) also launched its own health study on alcohol, not sanctioned by Congress, through the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking. Consumer advocates and 100 Congressmen expressed concern that the HHS report lacked basic transparency and independence from activists seeking to discourage Americans from drinking alcohol. 

** READ MORE FROM STEPHEN KENT: End HHS’ Misadventure on Alcohol Research (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) **

Kent continued, “The appearance of outside influence by the international temperance group, Movendi, is not an insignificant concern with how HHS has approached their research. Imagine a set of federal dietary guidelines featuring input from PETA regarding meat consumption. NASEM had a sufficiently transparent process that involved Congress and should be the only report considered by the USDA as they finalize the next set of US Dietary Guidelines.”

Takeaways from the National Academies report include: 

• Moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to no alcohol consumption.
• Moderate drinking is also associated with a lower risk of “all-cause mortality”, though heavy drinking increases such risks.
• The existing recommendations of limiting drinking to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 for women are reasonable and safe guidelines for consumer enjoyment of alcohol. 

OR MEDIA QUESTIONS OR INTERVIEWS CONTACT:

Stephen Kent

Media Director, Consumer Choice Center

stephen@consumerchoicecenter.org

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The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org