Wine, Miscarriage … Broken Links & A Broken Advocacy System

I had a nice email conversation today  with a reader who wrote to say that a link in today’s News Fetch (Moderate Drinking and Miscarriage Linked) was broken. I HATE when that happens because I personally click every link three times before it goes out.

As it turns out, the Discovery News web site was what went down.

 

In the event that this site does not come back up when you want to read about this study, here is another link about the same research: Alcohol ‘trebles the risk’ of miscarriage

But that’s not the end of the story. Things are worse than they seem.

IS THE RESEARCH WELL DONE?

Earlier on, the News Fetch subscriber said, “Hopefully it [the link] stopped working because it’s wrong.”

It certainly could be. Or the methods could be flawed. Or data could have been picked and chosen with a bias. That certainly seems to have happened recently with the Connecticut resveratrol researcher.

Sadly, the American wine industry is sitting  on its hands when it comes to informed responses to these sorts of studies.

AWARE (American Wine Alliance for Research and Education) is gone. The Wine Institute no longer has a health and research section that collects and studies medical research. Funding  for unbiased research is sporadic at best. Responses to major media articles is nearly non-existent.

There is, simply, no credible voice to speak up publicly to analyze and address these issues in a sustained and forceful manner.

In a previous life, I have worked on Capitol Hill in Washington at the highest levels and run political and public affairs campaigns at the state and national levels. I can tell you that to win against determined foes like the NeoProhibitionist establishment and its lavishly funded government arms, you must  address every issue every time and never let up.

And despite the fact that Washington D.C. pays only lip service to serving the electorate and responding to the people’s will, public opinion counts a great deal in the marketplace and affects consumer behavior and choices.

Sporadic, hit-and-miss efforts will never take the place of a relentless, well-coordinated, well-armed and well-informed response to every article, every time. This is a battle the industry thinks is has won …and can easily lose.

WINE INSTITUTE RESPONSE

Following one of my previous comments on this issue, a reader sent my previous blog post on to the Wine Institute, who sent back the following (which does not alter what I have written above):

“We are fully engaged on wine and health issues at the state, federal and international levels and watch for re-emergence of anti-alcohol groups that oppose even the moderate consumption of wine, beer and spirits by responsible adults.

“We also have already participated in an interview with NPR on this issue this morning, and our Washington D.C. staff communicates with NIAAA and other government agencies on wine and health policy.

“As you may know, our staff is actively involved in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans alcohol guideline public testimony when the guidelines are updated, World Health Organization policy, and, other groups in the public health arena engaged in alcohol and health policy. The public policy arena is where most of our work occurs for, as you probably know, the industry is prohibited by federal regulation from touting the medicinal/therapeutic benefits of wine and alcohol.”