The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) committee, has published the draft report of its alcohol intake and health study. This is one of two complementary reports on the relationship between alcohol and health that will help to inform the HHS and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as they co-develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030.
ICCPUD supported an independent scientific review panel that conducted data analyses and an evidence review on alcohol and health beginning in early 2022. ICCPUD’s draft report summarizes the findings of its study and does not include recommendations on alcohol consumption. These findings will be one of the inputs that will be used to help inform HHS and USDA in developing guidance on alcoholic beverages and health in the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, expected to publish in late 2025.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) published its Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health in late December. As directed by Congress in the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, USDA contracted NASEM to conduct a series of systematic reviews of the scientific evidence on alcohol consumption and health. The report describes the findings of those reviews; it does not include recommendations.
Later this month, HHS and USDA will open a comment period for the public to submit written feedback to the departments on the reports. These comments, along with the reports and other federal agency input, will help inform HHS and USDA as they develop guidance on alcoholic beverages that will be included in the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. More information about this public comment opportunity will be available on DietaryGuidelines.gov later this month.
Interested in staying up to date on next steps in the process that HHS and USDA will use to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030? Sign up to receive regular updates via email and learn more at DietaryGuidelines.gov.
