RESOLUTION OENO 8/2003

SPECIFICITY OF WINE AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

UPON THE PROPOSAL of the Sub-Commission “Wine, Nutrition and Health” and the data concerning the epidemiological results published (sample, cohort and prospective)

NOTES that a large number of scientific studies have suggested differential health effects from different types of alcoholic beverages especially wine consumption;

NOTES that while most researchers agree that health effects of alcohol consumption are primarily due to ethanol content, a number of studies have suggested specific effects from the particular make-up of different alcoholic beverages, for example antioxidants,

CONSIDERING that recommendations concerning the food compounds associated with significant health risks require definitive proof of the beneficial impacts,

RECOMMENDS the pursuit and development of epidemiological and biological studies on the health effects, both negative and positive, of different types of alcoholic beverages.

Declaration:

Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark consider that there are causal relationships between the average volume of alcohol consumption and several types of diseases. Most of these relationships are detrimental, but scientific studies have shown indication of a beneficial relationship with coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes mellitus, provided low-to-moderate average volume of consumption is combined with non-binge patterns of drinking.