The White House blocked a study on alcohol consumption. This is what it said

In 2022, the Biden administration set in motion a study on the effects of drinking, with extensive international participation by researchers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

After years of research, the study authors were informed by the Trump administration last year that it did not plan to publish the results, with some blaming the alcohol industry for influencing this decision.

The study, finally released on Tuesday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, found no benefits to moderate levels of drinking.

It recommends that adults should limit themselves to one drink or less per day, and researchers say these findings should have informed the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

“No protective effect of drinking was observed even at low levels, and a lifetime risk of 1 alcohol-attributable death per 1,000 people occurred at roughly 7 drinks per week for both males and females, with risks rising sharply beyond this level,” the study stated.

The research found that when increased to 14 drinks per week, the previous recommended maximum for men under the last DGA, this lifetime alcohol-attributable mortality risk went up to 1-in-25.

In their related statement on how these findings relate to public health, researchers wrote, “The results also support changing the U.S. Dietary Guidelines on alcohol to recommend that current adult drinkers consume 1 drink or less in a day.”

These findings echo what the World Health Organization said in 2023, when it determined that there is “no safe amount” of alcohol, finding that about half of alcohol-related are caused by “light” or “moderate” consumption.”

The Trump administration disputed the idea the study was “shelved.”

“Any characterization that the study was ‘shelved’ is inaccurate. HHS and USDA reviewed the study alongside the broader body of available scientific evidence and followed the established process for developing the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Guidelines are informed by the totality of the scientific record, not any single report or analysis,” Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in a statement.

The 2025-2030 DGA, published at the start of this year, gave no specific limits on alcohol consumption, only advising that people should “consume less alcohol for better overall health” and listing those who should avoid it altogether, such as pregnant people and those on medications that would interact with alcohol.

This signified a notable softened stance in the federal government’s dietary guidelines, with the previous DGA recommending that men have two or less alcoholic drinks and women have one drink or less per day.

Representatives for the alcohol industry lambasted the study.

“This study was the subject of a Congressional investigation that found it was the product of a flawed, opaque and biased process, with researchers pursuing a predetermined outcome rooted in personal ideologies rather than objective science,” said Amanda Berger, senior vice president of science and research for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Berger is referring to the report released by Republican Rep. James Comer (Ky.), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, earlier this year. The report by Comer, whose district is home to several distilleries, argued that the study sought to “publish a biased study that parroted a ‘Canadian model’ conclusion that no amount of alcohol consumption is safe.”

Updated at 6:45 p.m. EDT