Beer : Health and Nutrition

Conclusion 157
consumer as those that are actually false. A claim that is supported by scienti c
evidence might still mislead the consumer without appropriate quali cation and
detail. Any such claim is considered misleading unless it is properly quali ed and
balanced, suf ciently detailed and speci c and outlines the categories of individuals
for whom any positive effects on health would be outweighed by numerous
negative effects on health.
However, might it not equally be said that it is wrong to imply that the consumption of an
alcoholic beverage will perforce be injurious to health? Most people do not take alcohol
to excess. The present warning that is mandatory on beer packages in the US is vague
in respect of the latter part of its second statement (‘…may cause health problems’) and
is certainly not suf ciently detailed along the lines described in the above extract from
the TTB document. Would it be no less vague to say ‘…may afford health bene ts’?
The TTB document presents testimony from medical experts who span the divide.
Dr Michael Gough says that:
…with the exception of those well-de ned groups of people who should avoid
alcohol, there is clearly convincing evidence for the health bene ts of moderate
alcohol consumption … based on understanding of the biological basis for the
protective effects of alcohol, it is likely that moderate alcohol consumption in the
20s and 30s is important to the bene cial effects seen in later years.
On the other hand, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence commented
that:
… while most people who choose to drink do so without negative health or life
consequences, there are 13.8 million Americans over the age of 18 who have
problems with drinking, including 8.1 million who are alcoholic.
There is no comparative information concerning other forms of addiction.
Dr Michael Criqui is cited as saying that ‘half of all the alcohol consumed in the
United States is consumed by the 10% of men and the 5% of women who are alcoholdependent’.
But then Dr Curt Ellison says:
Science clearly indicates that moderate drinkers have much lower risk of coronary
heart disease and ischaemic stroke. Because these are the number one and
number three causes of death, it is not surprising that moderate drinkers will live
longer in the United States. If I am withholding from a patient information that
may reduce that individual’s risk of a heart attack by 30 or 40 per cent and do not
tell him about it, I am doing him a disservice.