Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Evolution
Benchmarks for low-risk drinking are not new. At the beginning of the XXe century, the dominant recommendation in the Anglo-Saxon medical world was 28 g to 43 g of alcohol per day, or 2 to 3.5 Canadian standard drinks.
These landmarks, above all, are not fixed. Since the early 1980s, they have changed from decade to decade and from country to country, depending on epidemiological data, society’s definition of what is considered an acceptable risk, but also the function assigned to them.
It is in this context that the Canadian Center on Addiction and Substance Use (CCSA) presented its new benchmarks on Monday. A group of experts has established a mathematical model to answer this question: how many glasses should you drink to run a mortality risk of 1/1000 associated with alcohol? His answer: two standard drinks a week. And a risk of 1/100? Six glasses a week. The experts concluded that the alcohol-related risk would thus be “negligible to low” with one or two drinks per week, “moderate” with three to six drinks, and “high” with six or more drinks per week.
Previous guidelines suggested no more than 10 drinks per week for women and 15 for men.
13.45
In Canada, one drink corresponds to 13.45 g of pure alcohol, which is what a 341 ml bottle of 5% beer contains. In Europe, one drink corresponds to 10 g of alcohol.
Tendency
Recommendations vary greatly from country to country, according to a 2016 study published in the journal Addiction. In the 37 countries that offered limits (many countries do not), they ranged from single to quadruple for women (from 10 g to 42 g per day) and from single to five times for men (from 10 g to 56 g per day). Some were not based on science at all.
“My impression is that epidemiologists are still trying to establish what low risk and high risk mean in terms of the different consequences,” explains to The Press lead researcher, Agnieska Kalionowski. We can also think that, for Public Health, it may be tinged with the local situation and what we are trying to optimize. »
However, a trend seems to have emerged recently: a downward revision. Canada is indeed following the example of the United Kingdom, France and Australia, which have all tightened their benchmarks over the past six years by setting a maximum of 10 drinks per week.
In the United States, a committee of experts had suggested in 2020 to lower the limit to one drink per day for men, but the recommendation was not retained in the food guide. Scientists at Harvard University had opposed this change, arguing that there was a lack of scientific data to support it. Critics even spoke of “discreet prohibition”.
It should be noted that in 2010, the World Health Organization published a “global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol” which listed various measures to achieve this, such as taxing alcoholic beverages more, restricting their advertising and even their accessibility.
Interests
It remains to be seen what impact the new Canadian benchmarks will have. Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Andrew Hathaway is mainly watching the reaction of governments. Note that the CCSA Expert Panel is asking Health Canada for labeling regulations.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANDREW HATHAWAY
Andrew Hathaway studies drug policy.
“It’s interesting to ask about the different interests at play with an ad like this, because it represents a significant shift in how we think about moderate drinking,” emphasizes Professor Hathaway, who has always perceived a form of complicity between governments and the alcohol industry. “It raises interesting questions: what calculation was made? And are governments going to say that they now discourage the consumption of alcohol? »
Alcohol pays for the Canadian state, but it costs it even more, according to a recent study by the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. In 2014, annual revenues were calculated at 10.9 billion dollars, but the societal costs (health system, economic loss, justice, etc.) at 14.6 billion.
According to Professor Louise Nadeau, who sat on the board of directors of Educ’alcool for 27 years, it is high time that containers of alcoholic beverages provide information on the number of standard drinks they contain. “If Health Canada, which supported the project with public money, supports the work of these experts, then regulations are needed very quickly,” says Louise Nadeau.
Pleasure
Ordinary people, who drink in moderation, may wonder how to react to these new cues. As researcher Agnieska Kalionowski noted in her study, there is no solid evidence that these changes in recommendations have any real effect on behaviors.
Professor Andrew Hathaway expects a “small minority” of people to respond by quitting drinking. “One of the things that Public Health always tends to underestimate, when calculating costs and benefits, is the mental health benefits,” he says. To do a good analysis, you have to take pleasure into account. »