You have to admit, they have been very effective getting their message into the mouths of countless government health officials. I talked about the choice words our departing Surgeon General chose when he released his January 2025 report, informing the US consumer, that 'there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink' Let me think. Where have did he get that phrase? It does kind of roll off the tongue and if you want to make the message simple, that's pretty good.
You might think those little phrases or visuals don't capture mindshare, but if you remember the 1980s before 1,000 cable channels, let me name a few and see if some resonate.
Of course there is a truth to that statement when comparing it to going to work. There is no guarantee of coming home from your job either, but we go out of our door anyway. So, here is another in a string of releases that come out of that institution:
New study links alcohol consumption to increased risk of pancreatic cancer Link
Source: World Health Organization
May 29, 2025
A large international consortium of prospective studies, led by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions, has examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
The findings, published in PLOS Medicine, reveal a modest but significant association between alcohol intake and risk of pancreatic cancer, independent of sex and smoking status.
Good thing they removed confounding variables of smoking and sex, but it makes me wonder about the risk of having sex and getting pancreatic cancer. But anyway...
Lets review the playbook.
First question:
Who is the International Agency for Research on Cancer?
Answer: They are the specialized agency of the World Healh Organization.
You might have concluded that the WHO is doing us all a favor and telling us about an unbiased piece of research that we might have otherwise missed. Nope. This is a related organization of the WHO, which by the way, is also the place where the definitive list of carcinogens is kept. It's definitive because the WHO says things like +++++alcohol is a known carcinogen. Alcohol is listed in 1987 as a Group 1 carcinogen, right along with asbestos, neutron radiation, and tobacco in the IARC records. That listing was done while the WHO had the spotlight and interestigly, preceded the last consumer demand correction in wine.
Once again, there isn't anything untruthful. Misleading is another question.
Drinks groups mount fightback as alcohol faces ‘tobacco moment’
Source: FT
June 2, 2025
Beer, wine and spirits groups are devising new tactics to counter a hardening public health stance against alcohol, including promoting the social benefits of drinking and disputing research on the risks of moderate consumption.
The World Health Organization’s position that there is “no safe level” of drinking, coupled with declining global alcohol consumption, had prompted the need for more decisive action, executives at some of the world’s largest drinks groups told the Financial Times.
They are mounting a fightback that includes publicly disputing the WHO’s stance and warning that inaccurate research is influencing alcohol policymaking, as well as putting out advertising campaigns focused on the benefits of in-person socialising.
Diageo chief executive Debra Crew said the spirits giant was talking to policymakers to weed out inaccurate data on the health impacts of alcohol. “We are talking with governments to make sure that we are using good science,” Crew told the FT following a trading update this month.
“There is some science going out there that is just not accurate, so we are trying to combat that.”
Meanwhile, Asahi chief executive Atsushi Katsuki told the FT in a recent interview that while he was “absolutely not denying that there are risks” attached to drinking, he believed the message of “no safe level” was misleading.
The brewing boss said there was “lots of evidence” that moderate alcohol consumption could have health and wellbeing benefits, and that the industry “should do more to promote” the positive aspects of alcohol publicly.
His comments follow a new advertising campaign launched by Heineken designed to position its beer as the antidote to excessive screen time and a dearth of real life interactions, which included consumer research into the hours adults spend on their phones.
Investors fear that alcohol is having its “tobacco moment”, following escalating warnings from health authorities about its risks. The WHO issued its assessment that there was no safe level of alcohol consumption in 2023, and last year listed it among fossil fuels, ultra-processed foods and tobacco as one of the most harmful industries in Europe.
Pressure on drinks groups ratcheted up this year when the outgoing US surgeon-general said alcoholic beverages should carry cancer warnings, heaping pressure on an industry already suffering from a drop in global demand fuelled by changing consumption habits.
Bosses have been debating how best to combat negative messaging at recent industry events, according to people familiar with the matter, including at meetings organised by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking at which the WHO’s hardening position has been discussed.
“The industry is losing the air[waves] war at the moment . . . [Companies] haven’t got together to promote those benefits,” said one corporate affairs executive at a leading drinks group.
Another said: “Should the industry be communicating directly with people, saying moderate drinking is OK? That’s the interesting debate.”
The debate among chief executives on the right approach to take is coming to a head before the publication of new US dietary guidelines advising Americans how many units a week they should consume, expected later this year. Companies fear the guidance could be lowered.
Also looming is the high-level UN General Assembly meeting in September on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. There, UN member states will vote to agree a political declaration on how to improve global health over the next five years, which is expected to include discussion of alcohol.
Industry lobbyists are gearing up to counter heavier regulation, but many are wary of a more aggressive public push for fear of being likened to tobacco producers, whose reputations were hit in the 1980s and 1990s by heavy spending on research that downplayed the risks of smoking. They are also anxious not to be excluded from policymaking conversations, like the tobacco industry.
Lobbyists told the FT that public perception was a major threat. “The regulatory challenge is less of a concern than the public opinion shift,” an alcohol industry executive said.
Regulatory threats for the drinks industry include countries raising taxes on alcohol, mandating that their products must carry more prominent health warnings or endorsing the WHO’s “no safe level” position.
Ireland has introduced rules that mean from next year all alcohol packaging must carry labels warning of the links to cancer and liver disease.
Dag Rekve, senior technical officer for alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours at the WHO, said it was focused on ensuring governments have access to “clear, evidence-based” policy options to reduce alcohol-related harm, which can be adapted for each country.
