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"What, just two glasses?" Asked the title on the English page of France 24.
It was the incredulous reaction to the campaign launched this week by the French health authorities seeking to persuade the public not to drink more than two glasses of wine a day – and not every day either.
According to Public Health France, nearly a quarter of French adults regularly consume too much alcohol, and this consumption kills 41,000 people a year, making it the second leading cause of preventable death in the country after smoking .
"It's about 10.5 million adults who drink too much. In any case, they drink in proportions that increase the risks to their health, including cancers, high blood pressure, cerebral hemorrhage and cardiovascular disease, "said Viet Nguyen-Thanh, director of Public Health La France.
Jérôme Villaret, general delegate winegrowers of Languedoc AC, criticized the campaign. "This type of advertising campaign disturbs the moderate consumer," he told the newspaper La Depeche. "For us, this kind of study makes consumers feel guilty."
The French have a complicated history with wine, considered an essential part of their national cultural heritage. A 50s health campaign urged the public to reduce and drink less than one liter of alcohol per meal. School canteens could serve half a liter of wine, cider or beer to students under 14 years of age until 1956. The alcohol was completely banned from schools in 1981.
"It's part of French history. The fact that France is a wine producer certainly played a role in the French relationship with wine, "added Nugyen-Thanh.
For some, wine is not even an appropriate alcohol. The Minister of Agriculture, Didier Guillaume, said recently: "Wine is not an alcohol like any other."
Admitting excessive alcohol consumption among young French people was a real problem, he added: "But I've never seen, to my knowledge … a young person coming out of a box of Drunk night because he had drunk Côtes-du-Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage or Nîmes. "
Health Minister Agnès Buzyn responded with a harsh reprimand: "The alcohol molecule in wine is exactly the same as any alcoholic drink."
Figures from the World Health Organization show that the French are far from being the biggest drinkers in Europe. They consume on average 12.6 liters of pure alcohol per person per year, behind the 15 liters Lithuanian, 13.4 liters German, 13 liters Irish and Luxembourgish and 12.9 liters Latvian. In the UK, 11.5 liters per year are consumed per person. Wine represents 58% of the alcohol consumed in France.
Public Health France advises a maximum of 10 glasses of alcohol, including wine, per week. However, it does not specify the size of the glass.
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