www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The influence of „Big Alcohol“ in the health arena deserves as much scrutiny as Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, especially in light of evidence of bias in funded research, unsupported claims of benefit, and inappropriate promotion and marketing by the alcohol industry, says a new editorial in this week’s PLoS Medicine. The PLoS Medicine editors argue that the statistics about problem drinking are troubling enough, but what also demands more attention and research is the influence of the alcohol industry on health research, government policy, and public perceptions of the harms and benefits of alcohol. … (Source: Medical News Today, 05/31/11)

Lansley wants supermarket action on ‚front of store‘ promotions
The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, has written to supermarkets to re-iterate requests that supermarkets pledge to remove alcohol promotions from front of stores, reports The Telegraph.
Department of Health (DoH) officials said Ministers were frustrated that more supermarkets had not made further commitments, with only Asda applying discretion to the location of alcohol promotions. In the letter, Lansley called on the supermarkets to „do more“, requesting „all major alcohol retailers‘ full participation in this effort“.
Earlier this year Alcohol Concern realeasd a report calling for separate alcohol aisles in supermarkets. The report claimed abundant alcohol displays were normalising alcohol as an everyday commodity, reducing recognition of it as a potentially harmful drug. (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 5/30/11) alcoholpolicy.net, 5/30/11

Lunch Seminar, Hosted by MEPs Anna Hedh (S&D) and Marian Harkin (ALDE), European Parliament (Brussels)- A3E-2Tuesday 21 June 2011 12h00 – 14h30
Alcohol is one of the most heavily marketed products on our shelves.
Young people are an important target audience for the alcohol industry and they are exposed to unprecedented levels of sophisticated marketing, from mass media advertising to sponsorship of events, product placement, internet, merchandise, social networks etc.
Alcohol marketing has a powerful impact on young people’s drinking behavior and undercut the efforts by public health authorities to reduce harmful drinking among youth.
The speakers will analyze the scientific evidence on the cumulative impact of alcohol marketing and will present the results of two recent European projects on how to better regulate the content and volume of marketing in order to protect young people.
Please click here to register (People who DO NOT have a pass to the European Parliament need to register before 14 June 2011).
If you need any further information please contact Eurocare’s office at ruth.ruiz(at)eurocare.org or 02 736 39 76.

Every so often at Marin Institute, we get a complaint from someone about an alcohol advertisement they’ve seen in their community they think shouldn’t be there. Most of the time, they’re right. In our role as industry watchdog, I’ve taken on the responsibility to report such complaints to the industry directly to get the ads removed as soon as possible.
However, we have made a deliberate decision to not use the industry’s official complaint process, because as we demonstrated with our report in 2008, it’s a failure and a charade. … (Source: Marin Institute, 5/17/11)

– a systematic review of the literature
Abstract
Objective: The most recent scientific literature indicates that alcohol advertising influences behavior, particularly early and higher alcohol consumption by children and adolescents. From a public health perspective, alcohol advertising should be restricted. In many countries, as well as in Brazil, limits to alcohol advertising are established by industry self-regulation (e.g. controlled by the advertising community itself). We examined in this review all papers on the subject of industry self-regulation of alcohol advertising published in the international literature. … Discussion: The set of papers obtained indicates that industry self-regulation of alcohol advertising does not show evidence of efficacy. In other
words, such a regulation does not prevent, for instance, alcohol advertising directed at children and adolescents. Conclusion: Further measures should be considered for the control and the broadcast of alcohol advertising, such as independent monitoring, legal control. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/18/11) scielo.br

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who don’t drink.
Results of an anonymous survey of 264 teenagers were reported in the online edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors in a study authored by Weill Cornell Medical College public health researcher Dr. Jennifer Epstein.
„While the specific factors linking teenage drinking and computer use are not yet established, it seems likely that adolescents are experimenting with drinking and activities on the Internet. In turn, exposure to online material such as alcohol advertising or alcohol-using peers on social networking sites could reinforce teens‘ drinking,“ says Dr. Epstein, assistant professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College. „Children are being exposed to computers and the Internet at younger ages. For this reason it’s important that parents are actively involved in monitoring their children’s computer usage, as well as alcohol use. … (Source: Medical News Today, 5/10/11

Efforts by alcoholic beverage makers to boost sales by appealing to younger drinkers contribute to drinking patterns that are harmful to health, said experts at a panel discussion on “Alcohol, Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases and Public Health,” held this week at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
While alcoholic beverage makers say their ads are aimed only at consumers who are at or over the legal purchase age, research shows that viewing of alcohol ads by under-age youths has increased by nearly 70 percent over the past decade, said David Jernigan, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/9/11)

In an attempt to find yet another way to target the young female demographic, spirits producers have sprung new lines of premixed drinks designed and marketed to associate drinking their products with weight loss. This new trend toward spirits marketed as “low-cal” even has its own industry label: The “Thin-dustry.” This move by the spirits industry marks an obvious attempt to follow in the footsteps of the Big Beer duopoly, where for the past several years MillerCoors and Anheuser Busch InBev have seen success through marketing low-cal and low-carb beer lines targeted to both men and women. (Source: Marin Institute, 5/4/11)

In a new report entitled The High Cost of Cheap Alcohol, Pam Erickson from the Campaign for a Healthy Alcohol Marketplace examines the public health dangers associated with low-cost alcohol availability. The report „is designed to educate the public about the alcohol regulatory system and how it works. It focuses on one of the most powerful tools available to control alcohol problems: price. Time and again, research has shown that when prices go up, alcohol consumption and its attendant social problems go down.“ (Source: Marin Institute, 5/4/11) Comment: Very interesting history of American alcohol policies.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (APRIL 21, 2011) – Alcohol industry watchdog Marin Institute applauded 17 state attorneys general and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera for their quick action to stop the latest supersized alcopop – Blast by Colt 45.
„State law-enforcers heard the national outcry,“ said Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director of Marin Institute. “Supersized alcopop Blast is too big, too potent and marketed to youth.”
The sickly sweet, 12% alcohol fruity-flavored beverage is sold in 23.5 oz. cans, which the attorneys general deemed “impossible to drink responsibly.” Marin Institute had mounted a petition campaign before the product’s official release on April 5, targeting the Metropoulos family – new owners of Colt 45 parent Pabst Brewing Company. Activists drew public attention to the dangerous brew and its exploitative viral marketing to young fans of hip-hop/rap star Snoop Dogg, the spokesperson and public face of the new product.
Minister Paul Scott, of Durham, NC-based Messianic Afrikan Ministry said, “We must stop these corporations from using the beautiful art of Hip Hop to destroy young minds. Music should instead be used to strengthen them.” … (Source: Marin Institute, 4/25/11)