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 e reported on by POLITICO.

Stefano Kent del Centro di scelta dei consumatori 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 studia 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 continuò, “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:

Stefano Kent

Media Director, Consumer Choice Center

stephen@consumerchoicecenter.org

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Il Consumer Choice Center è un gruppo di difesa dei consumatori indipendente e non partigiano che sostiene i vantaggi della libertà di scelta, dell'innovazione e dell'abbondanza nella vita quotidiana dei consumatori in oltre 100 paesi. Monitoriamo attentamente le tendenze normative a Washington, Bruxelles, Ottawa, Brasilia, Londra e Ginevra. www.consumerchoicecenter.org