(New York Times) – Officials in other countries are warning about the health hazards of alcohol in any amount. Americans are still told that moderate drinking is safe. What gives?

A report that is intended to shape the next edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines has broken sharply with an emerging scientific consensus that alcohol has no health benefits.

The evidence review, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in December, revived a once-dominant hypothesis that moderate drinking is linked to fewer heart attack and stroke deaths, and fewer deaths overall, compared with never drinking.

Many scientists now take issue with that view. And some fear that, based on the new analysis, the influential dietary guidelines may fail to address recent research into the harms of drinking. (Read More)