| Author (Person) | Smith, Emily |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.22, 8.6.06 |
| Publication Date | 08/06/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Emily Smith Date: 08/06/06 Belgians sometimes like to say that fasting monks in the Middle Ages were kept alive and in reasonable health through the long days of Lent by the nutrients and vitamins in their abbey-brewed beers. Several hundred years and a lot of health research later, the idea of drinking your way to well-being has fallen out of favour. Several brewers have recently run into trouble trying to get back to the medieval view. A UK brewer in Hampshire three years ago was told by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to withdraw "health" beer mats. The ASA said there was no evidence to support the company's claim that "beer is an all-round food containing a balanced package of nutrients and minerals and can be considered to make a positive contribution to a healthy diet". A Dallas company announced in January it was adding vitamins to its beer, but was immediately banned from saying the drink might be good for you, or listing on the bottle the vitamins it contained. Scotland has also toyed with the idea of adding vitamins to beer, following surveys that showed Scots have one of the unhealthiest diets in Europe. For a while, optimists thought that, if things were that bad, they might at least get some vitamins into citizens at the pub. But scientists were quick to point out that, since alcohol reduces the body's ability to absorb vitamins, it would be hard to compensate by adding anything. Health lobbyists added that other health problems linked with alcohol made it ridiculous to encourage drinking for any reason, and that it is the unhealthy diets that should be changed, not the contents of a pint. Although modern attitudes are less damning of drinking wine than beer or spirits, the European Commission proposed banning the addition of vitamins and minerals to any sort of alcoholic drink in line with "the efforts made against alcohol abuse". But under the text of a law on the addition of vitamins and minerals adopted last month, vitamins can be added to a limited number of "well specified traditional beverages". The list of beverages now has to be agreed. A slight nod to drinkers and brewers has also been added to new health claims legislation. The Commission wanted a total ban on health claims for alcoholic drinks. But a derogation was added for very low alcohol drinks - those containing no more than 1.2% alcohol - on the grounds that "the alcohol quantity provided by the consumption as such foodstuffs is negligible". But the ban would still apply to the beer that got the monks through Lent. Article reports that the new EU Regulation on health claims on food, agreed in May 2006, was not going to allow producers of drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol to make any positive health claims on these products. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
