The Food and Drug Administration has relaxed guidelines on the health effects of alcohol consumption. Much more than any new scientific findings, the move reflects a yearslong lobbying effort by the alcohol industry.
When the federal government blindsided public health experts last week by eliminating its long-standing warning that Americans should only consume one or two alcoholic drinks per day, alcohol industry lobbyists acted as surprised as anybody.
A top executive at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which represents companies like Bacardi and Stoli, told the New York Times that she didn’t know of any industry groups lobbying to eliminate the recommended drinking limits, which have been in place since the country’s first dietary guidelines in 1980.
Left unmentioned were the millions that the Distilled Spirits Council and other alcohol lobbyists have recently spent on the dietary guidelines and other issues. The struggling booze industry has been tossed a lifeline from Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s Department of Health and Human Services, which is now simply urging people to “consume less alcohol for better overall health” and has eliminated public warnings that even moderate consumption is linked to cancer and other health risks.
These warnings against excessive alcohol use are typically used to inform scientific studies, offer guidance for medical providers and the public, and distinguish between moderate and heavy alcohol consumption.
The Distilled Spirits Council spent more than $2 million lobbying on the dietary guidelines in the first three quarters of 2025, and another nearly $4 million the year before. The Beer Institute, another major lobbying group, spent more than $2…
Auteur: Lucy Dean Stockton
