Wine in Moderation as partner of the conference
At the beginning of the conference, George Sandeman, former president of Wine in Moderation and one of its founding members and the scientific coordinator of the Wine Information Council (WIC), Ursula Fradera, presented the Wine in Moderation initiative. They both emphasized that the communication of wine and health issues needs to be based on scientific evidence. In her presentation, Ms. Fradera pointed out the importance of assessing the study results about wine and alcoholic beverages in the context of a healthy diet and lifestyle to draw objective conclusions.
With the example of a study and its misinterpretation, she explained that the political objectives/evidence often play a more important role in the media than the scientific evidence. Critical (lifestyle) factors such as diet, physical activity, drinking pattern (moderate vs. binge drinking), types of alcoholic beverage, etc. are not considered in the modelling studies that are typically found in the headlines. She appealed to the participants to analyse and evaluate the original studies in a critical and objective manner and not to rely on the media.
WIC scientific experts as invited speakers
Many of the WIC scientific experts presented the latest scientific evidence on various topics.
Read more about their interventions here.