The Alcohol Intake and Health Study run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as part the U.S. dietary guidelines update, which was never released by the administration, was published last week in a scientific journal instead.

Reminder: The report was embroiled in controversy last year, with some members of Congress and alcohol industry trade groups alleging scientists on the project held an anti-alcohol bent. The report went unreleased by the Trump administration, which instead relied on a NASEM (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) study to inform the guidelines, despite criticism for including people with financial ties to the alcohol industry.

The details: The study found that even low levels of alcohol consumption, about one drink per day, raise the chances of dying or becoming seriously ill.

While the new dietary guidelines released in January only advise Americans to “consume less alcohol for better overall health,” the guidelines had long recommended that men have no more than two drinks per day and women no more than one.
This report found that scientific evidence supports a gender-neutral recommendation – no more than one alcoholic drink per day for adults who drink.
The report found there was no net health benefit from alcohol and that even moderate amounts carry risk. It found that the lifetime risk of death from one drink per day is about 1 in 1,000, but that climbs with consumption. At 14 drinks per week, men face a 1-in-25 chance of dying due to alcohol. Women’s risks increase sharply.

Why it’s important: In addition to the implications of the findings for public health, the decision to withhold a taxpayer-funded report raises questions about scientific independence.

Meanwhile: The House Appropriations Committee advanced a spending bill last week that says the SAMHSA panel that ran the alcohol study cannot “study, analyze, consider or report” on adult alcohol consumption as part of its work to prevent underage drinking.