Local, provincial experts not toasting latest alcohol guidelines

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) is recommending having no more than two drinks a week, according to their latest research on alcohol-related risks.

The guidance replaces Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines from 2011, which previously recommended no more than 15 drinks a week for men and 10 for women.

Tony Elenis, the president of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association says there are a lot of unknowns in terms of the effect this could have on the province’s restaurant industry.

“It’s too soon to understand any impact at this point,” says Elenis, who once worked in Sault Ste. Marie's hospitality industry. “The bottom line is the new drinker has changed. The youth today are not drinking as much – that’s been the trend and it will be for the future.”

“Some are debating the accuracy of the message. If you look at other jurisdictions from around the world, we haven’t seen anything like this come up. We need time to understand it and digest it.”

After consuming two drinks a week, the CCSA says alcohol-related health risks rise with every additional drink consumed:

• 0 drinks per week — Not drinking has benefits, such as better health, and better sleep.
• 2 standard drinks or less per week — You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
• 3–6 standard drinks per week — Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
• 7 standard drinks or more per week — Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.

While the dip is sudden compared to the 2011 recommendations, SooToday’s wine columnist Vin Greco notes there’s other research out there that contradicts the CCSA guidelines. 

“There are studies that suggest drinking wine has a lot of health benefits, and that moderate wine drinking could reduce the chances of stroke,” he says. “I spoke with a doctor friend, and he thought the recent study was questionable.”

“I can imagine some countries like France, Italy, and Spain would be laughing at our guidelines.”

Greco doesn’t think we’ll know the true impact of the latest recommendations for some time, but he does anticipate several potential changes coming eventually.

“It’ll be interesting to see how this report impacts the way LCBO operates,” he says. “We’re anticipating some increase in prices. It’ll be interesting to see how they proceed, and whether there’s a reduction in what they offer.”

“There could be an impact on our drinking depending on what ends up happening on the supply end of things.”

“Will they do with alcohol with what they’ve done with cigarettes, where the taxes have been building and building in order to offset health costs?”

Meanwhile, Root River Golf Course & Restaurant owner Dustin Grondin says the new guidelines don’t come anywhere near the top of his concerns in 2023.

“I haven’t really lost any sleep over it,” he says. “Restaurants face something way worse than the government saying what’s healthy for us and what’s not. We’ve known that alcohol isn’t good for us, the same with smoking and fast food, but none of those things are dying.”

“People are going to do what they want to do. The real issues that are hard on both restaurants and consumers exist with a lack of skilled employees, food prices going out of control, and people not having the additional income to go out and dine.”

“Those things plague the restaurant more than the government telling someone how much alcohol is good for them or not.”

For more information regarding the CCSA’s latest guidance on alcohol, visit here.