France urges citizens to drink no more than 2 glasses of wine a day, sparking outrage
FRANCE has sparked national outrage after urging its wine-loving population to cut down their alcohol consumption and drink just two glasses a day.
Furious citizens have blasted an anti-alcohol campaign launched by the Public Health France agency as even president Emmanuel Macon backs boozing.
The agency released a series of advertisements warning that lives are at stake if people do nothing to curb their current consumption.
It advises: “For your health, alcohol should be limited to a maximum of two glasses per day, and not every day either.”
But the sentiment sparked uproar among the French, who think it is perfectly normal to enjoy more than a few glasses of red or white, especially with meals.
Personally, I drink wine at lunch and dinner…There is a public health danger when young people get drunk on strong alcohols or beer, but not with wine.
French President Emmanuel Macron
President Emmanuel Macron himself has added his voice to the many who feel one of France’s most famous industries is under attack.
He admitted last year: “Personally, I drink wine at lunch and dinner…There is a public health danger when young people get drunk on strong alcohols or beer, but not with wine.”
Macron also announced he had no plans to tighten the laws on alcohol advertising during his presidency, telling those calling for such restrictions to “give France a break”.
Bruno Leclerc, a retired businessman from Paris, said he and his wife always got through at least a bottle a day.
Mr Leclerc said: “Yes, our friends help, but one bottle is the very minimum. We eat our food with it, and always have plenty of water – it you do that, then there’s no problem.
‘SWIMMING IN WINE’
“Such health campaigns always make out that you can live for ever – you can’t out, so enjoy life a little bit!”
And 40-year-old Parisian Caroline said she grew up “literally swimming in wine”.
She told France 24: “In my family, our meals together have always been extremely important, and there has always been wine on the table.”
Caroline added: “I’ve tried to install alcohol-free days on Mondays and Tuesdays, but when Monday comes around, and you’re tired from your day at work and after picking up the kids from school, and it’s time for dinner, I feel I kind of deserve that glass. It’s a way for me to unwind.”
Jerome Villaret, who produces wine in the Languedoc region of France, said: “This kind of publicity campaign upsets the moderate consumer.
“To us, these kind of studies just make consumers feel guilty.”
‘GIVE FRANCE A BREAK’
France has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Europe, trailing behind only Estonia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic according to the World Health Organisation.
Campaign literature warns that some 25 per cent of French people regularly exceed safe limits, and that many end up among the 41,000 who die from alcohol-related causes every year.
It adds: “Our goal is to enable the French to make the informed choice of a consumption that is less risky for your health… it should not be more than 10 glasses of alcohol a week”.
Agriculture minister Didier Guillaume also conceded that binge-drinking among the young was a growing problem, but added that “Wine isn’t alcohol like the others”.
HISTORY OF WINE-LOVING
Mr Guillaume referenced a number of top quality French wines that are famous around the world, adding: “It’s a real problem but I’ve never seen, to my knowledge – unfortunately perhaps – a youngster leaving a nightclub drunk because they drank Cotes-du-Rhone, Crozes-Hermitage or Costieres-de-Nimes.”
Up until 1956, school canteens were allowed to serve half-a-litre of wine, cider or beer to pupils under 14.
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The legal drinking age in France now is 18.
Despite such an astonishing history, France’s current health minister, Agnes Buzyn, admitted that “the alcohol molecule in wine is exactly the same as those in any alcoholic drink.”
There are regular health campaigns in Britain to limit alcohol consumption to a reasonable amount, but despite this wine is often linked with health benefits, including health people to relax.
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