WASHINGTON — A report on alcohol’s health effects, commissioned by the federal government but unreleased under President Trump, came out Tuesday — in a scientific journal. The study finds even low levels of drinking may increase the risk of various diseases or even death.
The Alcohol Intake and Health Study began in 2023 and was run by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of an update to the United States’ dietary guidelines. However, the panel’s work was quickly embroiled in controversy, with some members of Congress and alcohol industry trade groups alleging scientists on the project held an anti-alcohol bent.
The group’s final study was not released by the Trump administration. A House Oversight Committee report in January called it “irretrievably flawed” and recommended dietary guideline authors ignore its conclusions. Some authors of the study, who work outside the U.S. government, say their findings were politicized and suppressed because they are unfavorable to powerful special interests, including the beer, wine, and liquor lobbies.
Scorned by Trump officials, researchers took their review to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, which published it — without reference to SAMHSA funding. Among the findings is that even low levels of consumption, or about one drink per day, raises Americans’ chances of dying or becoming seriously ill.
