U.S. Dietary Guidelines Will Scrap Daily Alcohol Limit

The new United States dietary guidelines, which are expected to be released this month, will remove the daily recommended limit for alcohol consumption.

The new guidelines, drafted by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,  “are expected to include a brief statement encouraging Americans to drink in moderation or limit alcohol intake due to associated health risks,” sources told Reuters.

This marks a shift for the guidelines. Since 1990, the daily recommended limits have been no more than one drink for women and up to two drinks for men. It also signals a rebuke of the Biden administration, which took steps to drastically limit the amount of alcohol Americans consume.

In the last month of his term, Biden’s surgeon general expressed a desire to place cancer risk warnings on all alcohol products. Biden had also tapped a secretive board called the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking to revise the alcohol portion of the dietary guidelines.

Sources close to the committee — which contained multiple Canadian citizens —warned it was “close to adopting the World Health Organization’s 2023 declaration: ‘No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health,’” as previously reported by The Daily Wire.

Dietary guidelines are published every five years. The current revision is being led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The intention behind making the change is “to ensure the guidelines reflect only the most robust evidence.”

“The scientific basis for recommending specific daily limits is limited,” one source commented.

The debate surrounding the potential benefits and harms of alcohol is still unsettled. Though some studies indicate an increased risk of cancer, others show that those who consume alcohol in moderation may have a lower mortality rate, and possess a lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

Authors of a Harvard meta-study concluded that “the data do not justify sweeping statements about the [negative] effects of moderate alcohol consumption on human health.”

“The hospitality industry has consistently maintained the view that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be determined based on a preponderance of sound scientific evidence, free from bias and conflicts of interest,” Science Over Bias, a coalition of groups involved in the alcohol industry, said in a statement. “Information on responsible alcohol consumption has been part of the Dietary Guidelines for decades and has provided useful guidance for consumers who choose to consume alcohol and their health care providers.”