servingalcohol.com

Posts Tagged ‘alcohol consumption’

Learn more about reducing risky drinking behaviors at servingalcohol.com

Read the full story here.

Largely unrecognized problem raises risks of violence, car crashes and chronic disease

Read full story at USA Today

Learn how to manage your alcohol serving establishment responsibly, take our Responsible Alcohol Manager course online.

Source: USA Today

By: Liz Szabo

Date: October 5, 2010

Consumers who want to support breast cancer research through shopping can choose from pink T-shirts, lip gloss and, increasingly, booze.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade now comes in a pink variety. Pink wines sport pink ribbons. And Chambord, which markets pink vodka and liqueurs, urges people to “pink their drink,” saying that “by adding a splash of Chambord to any cocktail, you’re supporting breast cancer awareness year-round.”

All of them have given money to breast cancer causes - and highlight the donations in their ads.

That has led to criticism by some breast cancer survivors, who say it’s hypocritical to raise money for research while selling a product that contributes to the disease.

Both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute say even moderate drinking increases breast cancer risk.

“Anybody trying to sell alcohol to promote breast cancer awareness should be ashamed of themselves,” says Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, an advocacy group.

Chambord’s website notes that its Pink Your Drink campaign has raised more than $50,000 in donations for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength and other patient groups.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade has given $500,000 over the past two years to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, company President Phil O’Neil says. The company was inspired by the loss of an employee named Jacqueline who died after a long battle with breast cancer.

“The donations we make to breast cancer research are not tied to sales; they are our way of honoring Jacqueline,” O’Neil said in a statement.

In many cases, cause-related marketing is not about charity, says Dwight Burlingame, associate executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University: “These businesses are promoting their product.”

At least one breast cancer charity is walking away from alcohol-related gifts. “We have a partnership with alcohol, and I don’t understand it, either,” says Cindy Geoghegan, the new interim CEO at Breast Cancer Network for Strength. “Those kinds of relationships will not continue.”

And though the Breast Cancer Research Foundation appreciates donations from Mike’s Hard Lemonade, spokeswoman Anna DeLuca says, the group “in no way, shape or form endorses the consumption of alcohol.”

“This donation does not constitute a partnership,” DeLuca says.

Create a team environment with your staff to serve safely.

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)

Click here to learn about the effects of alcohol consumption.