www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Burger King, Sonic and Starbucks are among the fast food chains experimenting with selling alcohol, according to USA Today.
Two Sonic restaurants in South Florida will soon be selling beer and wine along with burgers, the newspaper reports. Burger King “Whopper Bars” that sell beer have opened in Miami, Kansas City and Los Angeles. Several Seattle Starbucks are now selling local wine and beer. These chains are adding alcohol to the menu in an attempt to boost sales during evening hours, the article notes. … (Source: Join Together, 07/5/11)

International News on alcohol politics, 07/04/11

The Church of England could threaten to pull its investments from British-listed supermarkets that fail to meet its minimum ethical standards on the sale of alcohol, in an attempt to stem the sale of cheap alcohol and reduce binge drinking.
The Ethical Investment Advisory Group, the investment body that makes recommendations to the Church’s three national investing bodies, said it wants to tighten its policy because of concerns about ‚corporate complicity in the misuse of alcohol, including through inappropriate pricing and promotions.‘ (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/04/11) lse.co.uk, 06/29/11

Online with many important articles:
* Alcohol and Cancer in the spotlight
* Alcohol and cancer – the forgotten link
* New WHO report: deaths from noncommunicable diseases on the rise, with developing world hit hardest
* Countries endorse a resolution on noncommunicable diseases at the World Health Assembly
* Is the cardio-protective action of alcohol a myth?
* Teaching responsible drinking ‘doesn’t work’ ….

If medical journals and public health advocates are concerned with corporate conflicts of interest, inappropriate marketing
to children, impotent self-regulation, and general flouting of the rules, why are we ignoring the alcohol industry? The crisis of confidence that surrounds the behavior and practices of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma [1,2]—bias in funded research, unsupported claims of benefit, and inappropriate promotion and marketing, among others—should be enough to provoke in us all a high degree of skepticism with any industry involvement in health research and policy. But the evidence and critical voices highlighting the practices of the alcohol industry—a massive and growing US$150 billion global business—have not yet received adequate prominence in medical journals. Indeed, attention to and scientific research on the alcohol industry have not kept pace with the industry’s ability to grow and evolve its markets and influence in the health arena. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/30/11)
The PLoS Medicine Editors

Gasolina-CapriSun Following in the footsteps of brands like Four Loko and Blast who use colorful, youth-oriented packaging and pop-culture icons to market their products to an underage, urban demographic, newcomer Gasolina Urban Blends has upped the ante with its “Party in a Pouch“ line: Brightly colored, 200-ml aluminum pouches complete with little straws inside to suck up the vodka, tequila, and rum, plus some fruit juice.
These pouches look remarkably similar to Capri Sun. Yes, the same packaging you see at youth soccer games across the country has now been repurposed for easy-access, take-anywhere alcohol. … (Source: Marin Institute, 06/29/11)

Marin Institute, the alcohol industry watchdog, released a new study today: Questionable Health Claims by Alcohol Companies: From Protein Vodka to Weight-Loss Beer. The report analyzes Big Alcohol’s latest marketing scheme to jump on the healthy product bandwagon made popular by the food industry. But, the report concludes, when it comes to alcoholic beverages, such marketing messages are “legally tenuous, morally unsound, and potentially dangerous.”
“The wine industry has been exaggerating wine’s health benefits for years. Now Big Alcohol is taking such messages to a whole new level,” said Marin Institute’s Research and Policy Director Michele Simon, JD, MPH and coauthor of the report. “Major alcohol companies are exploiting ineffective or non-existent regulatory oversight with deceptive marketing and potentially dangerous products.” … (Source: Marin Institute, 06/29/11)

– reports the Telegraph. A survey found 47 per cent of alcopops had been on offer in the past year, compared to only 20 per cent of red wines and 10 per cent of after-dinner tipples such as port. The Health Secretary recently called on supermarkets to take further action on front of store sales as part of the controversial Responsibilty Deal. (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 06/29/11) telegraph.co.uk, 06/05/11

An analysis of three years worth of data from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) shows that the vast majority of alcohol sales to minors occur at locations other than the full-service supermarkets and specialty grocers that use assisted self-checkout stands.
The examination of disciplinary actions from January 1, 2008 to March 11, 2011, all public data found on the ABC website, shows that the ABC filed almost 2,300 accusations against off-sale license holders (which include supermarkets and liquor stores) throughout California for selling alcohol to minors.
Of these accusations, fewer than 7 percent were lodged against specialty grocery stores and big box retailers, most of which do not yet use assisted self-checkout technology.
Large, chain supermarkets that do increasingly use assisted self-checkout stands accounted for less than 4 percent of the accusations. Fresh & Easy stores, which use only self-checkout stands, accounted for only 2 accusations. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 06/28/11) trading-house.net, 06/28/11

79 NGOs from various sectors have issued a statement of concern to the President of the UN General Assembly. The NGOs are concerned about the lack of clarity of roles for the industry sector in the recently held UN interactive hearing for civil society and the UN High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCD) in September.
2011-06-23
The statement was addressed to Dr. Joseph Deiss, President of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg, and Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Permanent Representative of Jamaica. All are key actors in the ongoing process on NCD in UN.

The 79 signatories draws from various fields of interest, including Baby Milk Action, alcohol, tobacco, essential medicines, consumers groups and various health groups. While the organisations strongly support the objective of raising the profile of NCDs globally they express concerns over the lack of clarity regarding the role of the private sector. … (Source: add-resources.org, 06/23/11),