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In this issue:
Briefing: Some key points at Alcohol Review 2025.
News: Trump cuts predicted to have“severe” impact: EU offers “licence to hide”; Sub-Saharan harm; Zero difference
Feature: Alcohol causes cancer, Pranoti Mandrekar of the University of Massachusetts explains.

Briefing
Alcohol Review 2025: The entire programme of 14 sessions is available to watch in full at alcohol-review.com. These include a global perspective from author Grant Ennis and a local one from UK public health leader Alice Wiseman, both discussed with leading figures in the field. And dozen concise “spotlight” sessions outlining the key findings and views of prominent alcohol researchers and campaigners. 

This month’s takeaways: There is room for ”Brief Interventions 2.0”; There is overwhelming support for health policy protection; the need to repeat tobacco success; and a call to ask our representatives about the alcohol deficit.

News
Trump cuts predicted to have“severe” impact: Cuts announced by the US Health and Human Services department are expected to “severely” impact efforts to reduce continued elevated levels of alcohol harm. In the right-leaning male podosphere, meanwhile, Trump-aligned Joe Rogan and tycoon-in-chief Elon Musk–architect of the Trump cuts–agreed on the logic of quitting alcohol. The level of US alcohol deaths were 17% above pre-pandemic levels last year despite a 5% year on year fall. Over 70% of these were of men.

EU offers “licence to hide”: The European Commission’s “wine package” proposals offered a “licence to hide” nutrition and ingredients information from consumers, said European Cancer Organisation’s policy chief. Alcohol Review noted that QR codes do not work.

Sub-Saharan harm: Global alcohol companies undermine public health and regulation in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study from Norwegian NGO FORUT, which criticised Norway’s pension fund for a $13bn holding in the companies mentioned. A separate paper blamed the delay of a bill in South Africa on “regulatory capture”.

Zero difference: Teenagers think of zero-alcohol beverages as a type of alcoholic drink, leading researchers at Australia’s Flinders University to voice concerns about exposing them to zero-alcohol branding and advertising. Public health professionals widely consider 0.0 brands as a ruse to dodge restrictions on alcohol ads.

Feature
Guest post: Alcohol causes cancer: If you ask clinicians and scientists how much alcohol is safe to drink, you might not like the answer, explains Pranoti Mandrekar of the University of Massachusetts.

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In this issue:
Invitation: Join us at Alcohol Review 2025, March 20th
News: Tax cut ahead of Aus election; Indian ad clampdown; 0.0 loophole campaign; Canada’s bourbon blockade; Breakup drinking; Beer and sandwiches and more…
Briefing: AR2025 Spotlight session overview, so far
Opinion: The case for pure free time hedonism

Invitation

Alcohol Review 2025
March 20th, live online; Other sessions now available
Winning the narrative, sharing the benefits.
Please join us for exciting live sessions from acclaimed author of Dark PR, Grant Ennis, and UK public health leader Alice Wiseman. They will mark the launch of a growing collection of compelling recorded sessions from around the world, with contributions already from Alcohol Health Alliance UK, George Institute, European Consumers, and many more to come. Full subscribers can watch them already. Please check out this unfolding online event and join us.

News

Aussie rules: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese temporarily halted raising draught beer tax in line with inflation in the runup to a general election due by May. Separately, the country’s northern territory decided to scrap the minimum alcohol price, to the alarm of health advocates.

Not cricket: India’s Union Healthy Ministry told the country’s top cricket league to ban all forms of alcohol and tobacco promotions, including surrogate advertisements, during the tournament beginning March 22, 2025.

0.0 campaign: Campaigners are urging Ireland’s government to close the loophole allowing the advertising of zero-alcohol drinks at sports events, using the catchline “close the l0.0phole”.

Bourbon blockade: Canada’s provincial governors are standing firm on stripping US alcohol products from shops despite US President Donal Trump suspending 25% tariffs. The reprieve is meant to end on April 2nd. Blocking bourbon sales is thought to be particularly persuasive because it is produced in heavily Trump supporting states.

Canada drier: The volume of alcohol sold in Canada fell by nearly 4% year-on-year last year 2023/2024, the largest volume decline ever recorded since Statistics Canada began tracking alcohol sales in 1949. Prices rose around 2.5%.

Beer and sandwiches: UK supermarket Sainsbury’s has begun selling alcohol-free beer as part of its lunchtime discount lunch deal. Critics say it will promote alcohol brands, normalise work time beer drinking and trigger alcohol cravings in people trying to cut down. Others fear a woeful breach of etiquette. 

Harmful consolation: Marriage breakups were found to increase the chance of regular drinking by 5%, a study of 13,000 Australians found. Women were more likely to increase regular drinking at the time of separation compared to men and their elevated consumption was more likely to persist.

Second-hand harm: The majority of Sri Lankan women have experienced problems because of the alcohol consumption of others,  said a survey from the country’s Alcohol and Drug Information Centre. And nearly two-thirds said they thought women’s rights are being violated when alcohol companies use women to promote their products,

Policy nearer: Cambodia is set to move a step closer to having a comprehensive alcohol policy this month with a white paper expected on March 24.

Driving warning: Warning messages about the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol will be displayed on the packaging of alcoholic drinks[in Korea, health officials said last month.

Briefing: Spotlight sessions so far
– full videos viewable for subscribers

Drones, robots and self-driving vending machines are likely to be used in alcohol delivery. Leon Booth from the George Institute explains how this might impact public health. Mary Madden from London Metropolitan University outlines research on the need to reset the alcohol brief intervention paradigm, called “Brief Interventions 2.0”. Asad Yusoff of the institute explains how “better for you” claims are used to market alcohol brands with dubious health claims. Alex Barker of Derby University explains how 818 Tequila branding sidesteps the rules in the “The Kardashians” TV show. The University of Victoria’s Andrea Cowan and Priya Johal explain the nuts and bolts of their newly launched KnowAlcohol website. 

Opinion

The case for pure free time hedonism
Resolving to cut back on alcohol, saving money and exercising are laudable goals, but not always compelling in themselves. We could take leaf out of the advertisers’ handbook book and look for activities which deliver the feelings and sensations we want. ■

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In this issue:
Invitation: Join Alcohol Review 2025
News: Outgoing Biden US Surgeon General sparks cancer warning debate; Investor drops alcohol stake; Psychedelic efforts hit high; Lo-no policy warning ignored; App assessed.
Features: Opinion: Alcohol-free beer hype is unhelpful; The case for pure free time hedonism; Put alcohol pleasure in perspective

Invitation

Alcohol Review 2025: Winning the narrative, sharing the benefits. With live sessions from acclaimed author Grant Ennis and UK public health leader Alice Wiseman. Impactful Spotlight sessions will highlight a series of cutting-edge developments. Full subscribers go free.
Subscribe, register and propose a session.

News

Outgoing Biden US Surgeon General sparks global cancer warning debate: Alcohol’s cancer risk made global headlines when outgoing Biden-appointed US Surgeon General said that alcohol products should carry warning labels. It is unclear which direction the nascent Trump administration will go with alcohol policy. In the meantime Pennsylvania House Representative Jose Giral proposed a bill which would require alcohol products in the Commonwealth to carry a warning. And Alaska revisited a plan to use signs to warn about cancer at point of sale. A second report was released to inform this year’s highly contested guideline revision. In India, meanwhile, the Bombay High Court last week notified central and state governments of a public interest litigation from a 24-year-old campaigner who wants to see alcohol cancer warning labels.

Investor drops alcohol stake: Investment manager Terry Smith dropped a long-held stake in alcohol giant Diageo, citing concerns over its new management team and the possibility that weight-loss drugs will reduce alcohol demand.

Psychedelic efforts hit high: Shares in the UK’s Solvonis Therapeutics Plc jumped after the FDA said it would allow its ketamine-based drug for alcohol problems to progress to phase two clinical trials. Separately, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the active element in the traditional South American drug ayahuasca, is also to be investigated.

Lo-no policy warning ignored: Low-alcohol products carrying alcohol brands should face the same marketing restrictions as full-strength counterparts and always be cheaper, says new guidance from the UK’s Alcohol Health Alliance. Their producers should also not be part of policy discussion. This suggestion has yet to be heeded, however, with Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne MP this week joining an alcohol industry lobbying exercise promoting the health benefits of low alcohol drinks. AR argued that a fixation on unproven benefits of low alcohol drinks pose a potential barrier to effective action.

App assessed: A study found that large-scale promotion of an app called “Drink Less” could reduce alcohol-related deaths by 4,600 and hospital admissions by 188,400 over the next 20 years,  saving the NHS £590m ($730m).

Features

Opinion: Alcohol-free beer hype is unhelpful
Heavy marketing has created a buzz around alcohol-free beer diverting vital public attention from surging rates of alcohol harm. The stakes are too high to let commercial hype eclipse evidence-based action.

Preview for full subscribers
The case for pure free time hedonism
The New Year is when many of us try to change our habits, resolving to cut back on alcohol, save money and exercise more. But we might also usefully take a step back to ensure our free time satisfies our appetite for feelings and sensation.

Message of the month

Put alcohol pleasure in perspective

Heavy marketing can make it seem that alcohol drinking is essential in pleasure when it really only plays a bit-part, and often a negative one. If we are serious about enjoying our spare time we might benefit from a more open, creative approach, as argued above. ■

Read on the homepage

In this issue: Finns told less alcohol, better health; UK alcohol “catastrophe” highlighted’; US issues exceptionalist health report; Australian delivery proposals hailed; Saudi 2034 stadium drinking ban; Nigeria sachet ban enforcement

Register now for Alcohol Review 2025, a uniquely accessible, solution-focussed forum for everyone involved tackling alcohol harm worldwide. Showcase your research and action alongside an agenda-setting live online event. 

News:

Finns told less alcohol, better health: New guidelines say drinking alcohol is not recommended for anyone for health and that any amount should be “as small as possible”. For children, young people, and pregnant and lactating women alcohol is “not recommended at all”. Seperately, South Korea’s health ministry said it was thinking of adding a label to say something similar. 

UK post-covid “catastrophe” highlighted: An alliance of 60 UK NGOs called for minimum alcohol pricing in England to help address a “catastrophic” 42% rise in alcohol deaths since the covid pandemic. The Labour government has so far done nothing to stem the tide of alcohol deaths, keeping alcohol taxes unchanged in real terms despite being elected on a manifesto saying it would focus on preventing health problems. Its Conservative predecessor actively stoked the surge in alcohol deaths with years of real terms alcohol tax cuts. Separately, figures showed alcohol deaths rose by almost two-thirds in the last decade across Northern Ireland where minimum pricing is on the agenda.

Exceptionalist US alcohol health report: A committee criticised for having financial ties to the alcohol industry and a lack of expertise said in a pre-publication report that moderate alcohol drinkers have a 16% lower all-cause mortality risk than non-drinkers. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee’s pronouncement contradicts global authorities on the subject of alcohol, like the WHO, which says alcohol harms health even at low doses because it is carcinogenic. The report is expected to inform decision on updated dietary guidance.

Australia delivery restriction proposals hailed: Alcohol harm reduction campaigners welcomed proposed alcohol laws in South Australian which prioritise the health and wellbeing of women and children. Among the moves would be restricting alcohol delivery times, with late night alcohol deliveries thought to worsen domestic violence. Separately alcohol harm NGO FARE Australia announced the departure of its CEO of five years Caterina Giorgi, who will continue until the end of February.

Saudi World Cup stadium drinking ban: Football fans will be banned from drinking alcohol in stadiums at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, the Guardian reported. It has not been announced whether co-branded alcohol-free beer will be allowed as it was at the Qatar tournament after a stadium alcohol ban was seemingly decided last minute. This gave the brand enormous global live TV and editorial exposure to audiences, includng many children and young people.

Nigeria sachet ban enforcement begins: The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control seized alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small plastic bottles the southern Delta State this month. The agency said it expected to make more raids. Reports of the outlawed products still being openly sold in Lagos suggest an uphill battle.

Message of the month:

Alcohol, less is more: Reducing alcohol intake reduces the risks it poses to our health from the smallest amount. Fewer people know this than should. ■