www.alkoholpolitik.ch

… as BBPA reveal Responsibility Deal unit campaign.
A Lords Select Committee report on behaviour change was released today, stating ’nudge‘ approaches alone are not sufficient for achieving population level public health improvements. Launching the report, Committee Chair Baroness Neuberger said a „package of measures“ was needed ranging from nudges to taxes and regulation.
Writing in a BBC report, Neuberger stated:
„There’s no doubt that, when it comes to our health, our environment really matters. But the government must recognise that „nudging“ isn’t the only way to make a difference. Sometimes changing the environment will require something stronger. The move to introduce higher alcohol pricing is a good example of how legislation can be used to change our behaviour by changing our environment. … (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 07/19/11)

For years, food companies have used advertising, packaging, and brand image to lead people to believe certain products are healthier than they really are. Whether it’s putting a sports star’s face on a Coca-Cola ad, labeling junk food as a “smart choice,” or attaching arbitrary designations such as “all natural” to foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, the food industry knows it must attract health-conscious shoppers. Over the past few years, alcohol companies have begun appropriating many of these misleading advertising techniques. Spirits companies are positioning their vodka as “all natural,” even though the products haven’t changed. Beer companies are sponsoring marathons and running ads showing toned drinkers meeting up at a bar after a work-out. Superstars of grueling, high-endurance sports are being tapped to promote alcoholic beverages. These advertising practices are legally tenuous, morally unsound, and potentially dangerous. Alcohol consumption costs society billions of dollars annually while causing immeasurable human suffering every day. Using health messages to sell products that can cause such widespread harm is not only unethical, it’s illegal, and yet the regulatory system has failed miserably to protect the American public. Because market research shows purchase intent and consumption of a brand increase
when people believe alcoholic products are all-natural or fitness-friendly, intense scrutiny and strict regulation of such misleading claims is essential. This report examines this disturbing trend to promote alcohol as a health and fitness product, analyzes the potential legal implications, and makes policy recommendations. … (Source: Marine Institute, June 2011)

Hosted by MEP Elzbieta Lukacijewska (EPP, Poland)
Key note speaker European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Mr John Dalli
Place: European Parliament – Brussels; Date: Wednesday 7th September; Time: 12h30 – 15h00; Room: A3 E2
This event is jointly organized by European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) and the Polish State Agency for State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems (PARPA) to mark International Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Day.
For more information please contact: aleksandra.kaczmarek@eurocare.org. Click to register

Brussels, 5 July 2011 Eurocare Press Release:
Exemption of alcohol from Food Information to Consumers Provision
Eurocare (European Alcohol Policy Alliance) is extremely disappointed with the shape of the Food Information to Consumers legislation which exempts alcoholic beverages from obligation to list its content. This is despite the fact that alcohol is high in calorie content, carbohydrates and certain ingredients used in its production can cause allergies or intolerances. We strongly believe that we all have the right to make informed choices and the current proposal will mean that one will know what is in a bottle of a fruit juice but not in a bottle of alcoholic beverage.
Providing information (about ingredients and energy value per 100ml) would allow consumers to assess the quality of the beverages and keep track of their calorie intake.
Marian Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, says: ‘We are very disappointed and concerned about the exemption of alcohol from providing information to consumers. Labelling alcoholic drinks would allow consumers to make an informed choice about their diet and health. This is a bitter reminder about the influence of the powerful industry lobbying on the politicians and their failure to give priority to interest of the
people. It really makes us all wonder what is in our drinks, that the industry is so afraid to tell us’. The European Parliament’s decision is not only ignoring the health and letting people take their own informed choice but it is also not in line with EU’s previous declarations. As stated in the EU Alcohol Strategy launched in October 2006: ‘Citizens have the right to obtain relevant information on the impact, and in particular
on the risks and consequences related to harmful and hazardous consumption of alcohol, and to obtain more detailed information on added ingredients that may be harmful to the health of certain groups of consumers’.

Drinking and engaging in water sports can be a deadly mix, warns the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Half of all water recreation-related deaths of teens and adults involve alcohol, the NIAAA says.
HealthDay reports that the institute is warning against a number of dangerous scenarios as the weather heats up and more people take to the water. For example, swimmers who drink alcohol may have impaired judgment, and swim out farther than they should. Drunk swimmers in a pool can jump into too-shallow water, or crash into the diving board. Surfers who have been drinking may try to ride a wave that is too difficult for them to handle. Drinking and boating is an especially dangerous combination. The NIAAA says that alcohol may be involved in up to 60 percent of boating deaths. … (Source: Join Together, 07/12/11)

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