UK: Big Alcohol Lobbies Against Health Guidelines
The alcohol industry is poised to launch an aggressive challenge against the UK Government’s new alcohol guidelines.
Lobbyists of the alcohol industry front group The Portman Group have announced an aggressive contribution to the Department of Health consultation on the new limits set by Sally Davies, the chief medical office. But the consultation is only meant for consulting on how the changes are to be communicated, but Big Alcohol vows to attack the scientific basis for the new guidelines.
The Portman Group is the UK lobby arm of Big Alcohol with members such as AB InBev, Bacardi Brown-Forman, Carlsberg, Diageo, Molson Coors, Heineken, Pernod Ricard and Jägermeister.
The new guidelines encourage men and women to limit alcohol intake to 14 units a week. The guidelines are warning that no amount of alcohol use is safe and that any alcohol use increases the risk of illnesses, such as cancer.