The 7 key messages of the alcohol industry

European health organizations warn of the smart and effective lobby of the alcohol industry. Click here to download the full report.

Alcohol industry resists legal restrictions

The alcohol industry profits from governments with alcohol policies that legally restricts them as little as possible. That is why the alcohol industry takes a stand against measures such as the raising of excise-duty, the introduction of minimum alcohol price levels, raising the minimum age for buying alcoholic beverages, restricting the number of off-sales, putting health warning messages on labels and restricting advertising. It's these measures that can reduce the alcohol use in the general population and the damage caused by the use of alcohol. The industry on the other hand promotes the use of ineffective educational programs that do not pose a threat to their sales and benefit the public image of the industry.

Consequences of alcohol use are very high; governments remain passive

Solid data about the harms caused by alcohol is constantly made available, however many countries don't take effective measures.

Recently the World Health Organisation announced that alcohol use takes 2.5 million human lives, each year worldwide. According to the WHO, alcohol is the third biggest risk factor for premature death and loss of healthy life years. In Europe, alcohol as a risk factor actually takes the second place. Each year 320.000 young people between the age of 15 and 29 die from alcohol related causes (i.e. 9% of all deaths in that age group) (WHO, 2011).

Influence of the alcohol industry costs human lives

A number of European health organizations have concluded that the undue influence of the alcohol industry on policy of national and European governments is very harmful. As a result of this, essential (evidence based) policy changes are delayed and the dramatic damages caused by alcohol do not decrease. The success of the industry, according to these organizations, means that many people die or get harmed unnecessarily due to alcohol use and that the social costs of alcohol are kept unnecessarily high.

Research from the Sheffield University in the UK (2008) on the effect of the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol in the United Kingdom and Scotland, shows that this measure actually protects harmful drinkers who not only drink big amounts of alcohol, they also drink much cheaper alcohol. The measure hardly has any effect on the moderate drinkers. A minimum price for alcohol can prevent many deaths, thousands of hospitalizations and many absent days from work each year. While considered a ‘win-win' measure, the alcohol industry in 2010 successfully blocked the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland through intensive lobbying campaigns.

Screening the alcohol industry lobby

Eleven organizations from different countries concerned about the successful lobbying efforts of the alcohol industry, have jointly analyzed the industry's lobbying strategies. The results of this analysis are written in the report “The Seven Key Messages of the Alcohol Industry”. The report can be ordered through EUCAM (www.EUCAM.info), a partnership of a number of European health organizations. The purpose of this report is to give politicians, officials and health organizations an insight into the strategic working manners and thinking of the alcohol industry.

Quote from the report (page 3):

For politicians and health experts it is important that they reveal to the public the subversive messaging of the alcohol industry and do not fall prey to the industry's half-truths—or worse—outright lies. It is essential that experts have the best possible information about the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. The alcohol industry tries to prevent the information about the harmful consequences of consumption being made known by purposefully ignoring or denying the important and harmful effects of drinking. The result is that too often a highly glamorized and positive image is protracted to consumers in many societies.

The seven messages of the industry that are illustrated by examples from various countries are:

-Consuming alcohol is normal, common, healthy and very responsible.
-The damage done by alcohol is caused by a small group of deviants who cannot handle alcohol.
-Normal adult non-drinkers do not, in fact, exist.
-Ignore the fact that alcohol is a harmful and addictive chemical substance (ethanol) for the body.
-Alcohol problems can only be solved when all parties work together.
-Alcohol marketing is not harmful. It is simply intended to assist the consumer in selecting a certain product or brand.
-Education about responsible use is the best method to protect society from alcohol problems

EUCAM; March 2011

On behalf of the participating organizations:
Addiction Info Switzerland
AV-OG-TIL (Norway)
Boozerebellion; Friends of Temperance (Finland)
Deutsche Hauptstelle für Suchtfragen (Germany)
Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy –STAP- (The Netherlands)
Eurocare Italia (Italy)
IOGT-NTO Sweden
Landsraadet (Denmark)
Marin Institute –San Rafael (USA)
State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems (PARPA; Poland)
Vereniging voor Alcohol en andere Drugsproblemen (VAD België)

Contact information:
E-mail: eucam@eucam.info

Sources:

Meier et al., (2008a). The independent review of the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion. Summary of Evidence to Accompany Report on Phase 1: Systematic Reviews. School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, UK, June 2008. Study commissioned by the Department of Health: UK.
Meier et al., (2008b). Independent review of the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion: Part B. Modelling the potential impact of pricing and promotion policies for alcohol in England: Results from the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model Version 2008 (1-1). University of Sheffield, UK. Study commissioned by the Department of Health.
Meier, P. et al., (2009). Model-based appraisal of alcohol minimum pricing and off-licensed trade discount bans in Scotland. A Scottish adaptation of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model version 2.
WHO: Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health (2011) http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/index.html