Wine Institute Urges Preserving Long-Standing Guidance on Alcohol Consumption in U.S. Dietary Guidelines

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Wine Institute submitted formal comments today to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services urging them to preserve the long-standing guidance on alcohol consumption contained in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines (DGA). Since 1990, the DGA have recommended that adults who choose to consume alcohol should do so in moderation and defined this as no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Last month, the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended a significant change to the guidance on consumption for men, changing the guidance to no more than one drink per day.

“The current recommendation in the Dietary Guidelines should be preserved based on the strength of the current body of scientific evidence supporting that recommendation,” said Bobby Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute. “The Advisory Committee report clearly fails to establish the preponderance of evidence needed to change this guidance which has been in place for thirty years.”

The agencies are in the process of drafting the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and will issue the final recommendations later this year

A copy of Wine Institute’s comments can be found here.

Wine Institute is the public policy advocacy group of more than 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses. California is the fourth largest wine producer worldwide and accounts for 95 percent of U.S. wine exports.