Government advice on drinking ‘at odds with common sense’

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has called on the UK government to hold a public consultation on drinking guidelines after the recommended weekly allowance for men was dropped by seven units to the same level as women in January.

Previous NHS guidance, published in 1995, advised that men should not drink anymore than three to four units a day – up to 21 units or less a week – while women should not drink more than two to three units a day, or up to 14 units a week.

New guidelines published in January lowered the recommended intake for men to the same level as women, which equates to six pints of average strength beer or seven glasses of wine a week.

Today, CAMRA has released the results of an independent You Gov survey which show that half of the 2,040 people surveyed disagree with the changes.

61% agreed that moderate alcohol consumption could be part of a healthy lifestyle, while 51% disagreed with the Chief Medical Officers’ decision that alcohol guidelines should be the same for men and women.

It builds upon a further survey published by CAMRA in May which showed that the majority of GP’s also disagreed with the statement that there was no safe level of alcohol consumption.

As the Great British Beer Festival kicks off – a week long celebration of Britain’s brewing industry – CAMRA is calling for the Department of Health to launch a new public consultation into whether alcohol guidelines are “fit for purpose and evidence based”.

“The figures we’re releasing today, at the start of the Great British Beer Festival, show that government advice on drinking is at odds with common sense”, said CAMRA chairman Colin Valentine.

“If the government wants people to take the guidance seriously then it needs to present people with realistic and believable advice, which they can use to judge their own risk when it comes to responsible drinking.

“If the public feels, as our figures suggest, that the guidelines are not credible and lack evidence, the danger is they will increasingly just ignore them.”

Read more

Beer

UK alcohol guidance ‘out of line with Europe’

While the UK’s recommended weekly intake of alcohol stands at 14 units per week for both men and women, in comparison the US advises no more than 24.5, France 26, Italy 31.5 and Spain 35 units a week.

CAMRA also restated its belief that the report which led to the guidelines being lowered failed to take into account numerous studies that show moderate drinking can have a protective effect against various health problems including cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and certain forms of cancer. However, this is ignored in the new alcohol guidelines.

“There are decades of international scientific evidence showing that moderate drinking can play an important part in a healthy and happy lifestyle”, added Valentine. “We’d like to see that research reflected in a more grown-up approach to help adults understand the risks and benefits associated with drinking.”

Justifying the changes made, Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said the new guidelines were aimed at keeping the risk of mortality from cancers or other diseases low, adding that the links between alcohol and cancer “were not fully understood in the original guidelines, which came out in 1995”.

Her report claimed that any amount of drinking increases the risk of a range of cancers and that there is “no safe level” of drinking for women who are pregnant, reducing previous guidance for pregnant women from no more than one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week.

“What we are aiming to do with these guidelines is give the public the latest and most up to date scientific information so that they can make informed decisions about their own drinking and the level of risk they are prepared to take”, she said.