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Archive for the ‘General Alcohol News’ Category

Source: NBWA

Date: October 4, 2010

Day One Focuses on Industry Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

Today the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) kicked off the first full day of its 73rd Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

NBWA Chairman of the Board Mitch Watkins addressed the goals he laid out for 2010 including increasing the Association’s communications efforts, distributor participation in Association events as well as distributor education and outreach. He explained how education and outreach is vital to making sure that members of Congress, state regulators, attorneys general and the public are informed about the importance of state-based alcohol regulation.

Watkins also outlined the Association’s activities to address threats facing the state-based system of alcohol regulation, including advancing a distributor agenda and opposing ballot initiatives in Washington state. “This threat is real, it’s immediate, and make no mistake – the NBWA is fully engaged in the campaign to defeat this initiative. From the very start, NBWA has jumped in with both financial and subject matter expert support, and we’ll continue to assist the Protect our Communities campaign any way we can.”

NBWA President Craig Purser talked about the impact recent economic and political changes have had on the beer distribution industry. He also discussed ongoing challenges to America’s effective system of alcohol regulation, including the continued challenges to the system presented by litigation, deregulation by defunding state agencies and the latest and newest challenge – deregulation at the ballot box disguised as privatization.

Purser highlighted how the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act – which has 151 co-sponsors and is advancing through Congress – has already proven effective, stating, “It has highlighted the threat that states face from ongoing litigation. It has illuminated the fact that some would like to dramatically reduce a state’s ability to effectively regulate. And it is helping lawmakers understand the three-tier system and that all three tiers are independent for a reason. The system was set up so that separation between the tiers works for the public’s interest.”

James Hellman, President of Preferred Distributors, LLC, in Sparta, Wisconsin, moderated a panel of individuals interested in effective alcohol regulation entitled “The Great Masquerade: Deregulation Disguised as Privatization.” The panel focused on ballot initiatives that are being considered by voters in Washington state that would completely gut the state’s system of alcohol regulation. The panel included James Sgueo, President and CEO of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association; Jerry Oliver, former alcohol regulator and chief of police; Heather McClung, President of the Washington Brewers Guild; and Judy Cushing, President and CEO of the Oregon Partnership. Panelists addressed challenges that the public would face as a result of these proposals.

Following the General Session program, the Product Demonstration Showcase made a return appearance following its successful debut at the NBWA Annual Convention in 2008. The Showcase offered Convention attendees the opportunity to learn about new services and products from more than 100 different exhibitors. Some of the products on display included imported and domestic beer, non-alcoholic beverages, warehousing technology, fuel management systems, financial services software and promotional products.

NBWA’s 73rd Annual Convention continues Tuesday, October 5, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

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Source: ANI

Date: September 30, 2010

A new study has found that due to various factors, including social, economic and ethnic influences and pressures, more people are drinking than 20 years ago. A UT Southwestern Medical Center analysis of national alcohol consumption patterns gathered the data from more than 85,000 respondents.

The findings, Dr. Raul Caetano said, suggest that continuous monitoring of alcohol consumption levels is needed to understand better the factors that affect consumption. “Changes in the population due to aging, the influx of immigrant groups, and a decline in mean income level because of economic recessions can all impact trends in drinking and problems associated with drinking,” he said.

While more Caucasians, Hispanics and African-Americans reported drinking between 1992 and 2002, only Caucasian women consumed more drinks per person. The number of drinks that African-Americans and Hispanics consumed leveled out over the 10-year time period. Dr. Caetano said the team also identified several sociodemographic predictors for whether someone was more likely to drink to intoxication. They found that males younger than 60 who did not have a college degree were likely to consume more drinks per month. Being unemployed or unmarried also were identified as risk factors for males getting intoxicated more than once a month, he said.

For the study, the researchers culled data from the 1991-92 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted both surveys, in which trained interviewers spoke with individuals 18 or older in the respondents’ homes. The interviewers used a standardized questionnaire, so both surveys used the same overall methodology. Each study included about 43,000 participants.

The study has been published in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. (ANI)

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Recent data suggests that teenage girls are drinking more than boys, and for more serious reasons. The results came from the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study which surveys teen attitudes and behaviors. The number of girls who are drinking rose from 53 percent to 59 percent whereas boys stayed around 52 percent. The rise in teenage girls drinking may be affected by the rise in alco-pops that are available. Girls also admitted to drinking as a way to handle their problems whereas boys drink for more social reasons. This may be because teenage girls are more attuned to their feelings, or are just more willing to admit their emotions than boys.

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Scientists recently announced that drinking during pregnancy can result in lower sperm counts for sons. The study was conducted in Denmark. More than 20 years ago 12,000 pregnant women answered questionnaires about their health and lifestyle. Researchers tracked down 347 adult sons (18-21) of those women and tested their blood and semen. Sperm concentrations were 32 percent lower for sons whose mothers drank 4 to 5 alcoholic beverages a week during the pregnancy. Dr. Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen, lead study author, also acknowledged that more research is needed to confirm these study results as it was just an observational study.

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A healthy tea is being removed from stores to undergo alcohol testing. Kombucha was found to be over the legal limit. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau say a product must be below 0.5 percent alcohol by volume to be labeled as non-alcoholic. The tea was taken off of shelves so that it may be tested and can be correctly labeled. The tea tested the correct levels before it left the factory and natural fermentation that may have occurred after the tea was shipped to the stores is being considered as a reason for the increased alcohol levels.

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