A broad coalition of the nation’s agriculture, beverage and hospitality industries issued a unified statement today in response to the new Alcohol Intake and Health report from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD).

“Today’s report is the product of a flawed, opaque and unprecedented process, rife with bias and conflicts of interest,” the statement reads. “Several members of the six-member ICCPUD panel have affiliations with international anti-alcohol advocacy groups, and the panel has worked closely with others connected with these advocates. Congress never authorized or appropriated money for the panel or its work, and numerous letters from Congress and industry have voiced serious concerns over the process.

“Our collective organizations are a broad-based group representing seed to store, horticulture to hospitality. We are committed to science over bias. This report heightens our concerns that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ recommendations with respect to alcohol will not be based on a preponderance of sound scientific evidence.

“We urge the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health & Human Services to uphold the integrity of the DGAs to promote informed and responsible decision-making around alcohol. The agencies should disregard the ICCPUD report in their final assessments for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines.”

Members of Congress and stakeholders across agriculture, beverage and hospitality have repeatedly raised numerous concerns about the ICCPUD review panel, including:

• Lack of transparency and limited opportunities for stakeholder input;
• Issues with statutory authority, especially assigning research on adult alcohol consumption to a committee created solely to address underage drinking;
• Clear evidence of bias and conflicts of interest in those tasked with conducting the research, including ties to international temperance organizations and anti-alcohol advocacy efforts;
• An unprecedented process that allows for original research based on cherry-picked data and flawed methodologies.

Later this month, HHS and USDA will open a comment period for the public to submit written feedback to the departments on the reports. 

About the NASEM Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health

Coverage of the ICCPUD report is not complete without reference to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health, released on Dec. 17, 2024, which concluded that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, compared to never consuming alcohol. The review also found that compared with never consuming alcohol, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of some types of cancer.

Read more: DISCUS Issues Statement on Recent Surgeon General Cancer Advisory

About the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

For decades, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) have recommended that adults who choose to drink should do so in moderation. The current DGAs advise limiting alcohol consumption for those who choose to drink to no more than two drinks per day for men and no more than one drink a day for women. The DGAs also advise that drinking less is better for health and that there are some adults who should not drink any alcohol. The DGAs are updated every five years.

The statement was co-signed by the following national trade associations:

• American Beverage Licensees
• American Cider Association
• Associated Cooperage Industries of America Inc.
• American Craft Spirits Association
• American Distilling Institute
• American Distilled Spirits Alliance
• Beer Institute
• Brewers Association
• Can Manufacturers Institute
• Consumer Brands Association
• Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
• Glass Packaging Institute
• Hop Growers of America
• Independent Restaurant Coalition
• National Association of Wheat Growers
• National Barley Growers Association 
• National Beer Wholesalers Association
• National Restaurant Association
• United States Bartenders’ Guild
• Wine America
• Wine Institute
• Wine & Spirits Guild of America 
• Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America

These trade associations have joined more than 85 organizations that have called for Science Over Bias in the Dietary Guidelines review process with respect to alcohol.

(Cocktails image via Pixabay/Josetxu)