Australians should have no faith in the new drinking guidelines

Peak industry body Alcohol Beverages Australia has expressed its disappointment at the release of the final guidelines by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommending Australians consume no more than 10 drinks a week.

ABA CEO Andrew Wilsmore said; “Australians should have no faith in these guidelines when they have cherry-picked a number for a woman who drinks three days a week as the advice for all Australians. This is a serious departure from previous guidelines which provided recommendations for an individual drinking across all days of the week.

“Had the NHMRC not set out to deliberately lower the guidelines it would be advising men they could be consuming up to 20 drinks a week if they spread their drinking out over seven days.

“The NHMRC defends this highly suspect approach as being scientifically rigorous, but we question how this is possible when the Panel chosen to review the guidelines is hopelessly conflicted with its members representing temperance or anti-alcohol activist groups.

“Key information on the health benefits of moderate consumption are censored from the guidelines including the fact that cardio protective effects saves 3,500 Australian lives annually; and that Australians can consume up to 28 drinks a week and have the same risk of dying as a tee-totaller.

“We welcome guidelines, but they must be properly informed and transparent. The NHMRC recommendations help determine harmful levels of consumption and are extremely important but they must have credibility within both the health community and the public.

“This is a missed opportunity for Australians to be fully informed on their risks of drinking alcohol on the number of days they chose to and whether they are male or female. Most Australians drink alcohol for enjoyment, relaxation, and sociability, and do so responsibly and alcohol consumption is now at a 50-year low.

See our analysis of the drinking guidelines.

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Tony Ritchie, Media and Communications Director

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Correction Via Letter To Editor – Sydney Morning Herald

"The Alcohol industry is working positively and closely with FSANZ to implement energy labelling on its products to assist consumers make informed responsible choices. Any claim that the introduction of energy labelling is not supported by the alcohol industry is...

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