Focus Areas

Reducing Harm

Evidence-based alcohol policies that differentiate between beverage types can promote moderation and reduce harm.

At a Glance

Policies that nudge consumers towards lower alcohol beverages are a time-tested, evidence-based way to improve public health outcomes.

Research shows that substituting high alcohol beverages with low alcohol beverages, like beer, can reduce harm and reduce per capita consumption of alcohol.

While beer is already a low alcohol choice, brewers’ investment and innovation in lower- and no-alcohol options promotes responsible consumption, creating an unprecedented opportunity to align our business with public health objectives.

Go Deeper

Learn how the substitution effect can support positive public health outcomes at the population level.

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Fact Sheet: Promoting Moderation, Reducing Harm
Fact Sheet: Promoting Moderation, Reducing Harm
WHO Europe released a comprehensive study of the impact of alcohol policies in Russia, finding that policies shifting consumption away from high-strength alcohol beverages toward lower-alcohol beverages were associated with a decline in mortality, heavy drinking, alcohol poisoning, alcohol psychoses, and cardiovascular diseases.

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Impact of shifting from high- to low-alcohol
Impact of shifting from high- to low-alcohol
While any beverage containing alcohol can be abused, beverages with a low concentration of alcohol, like beer, are less tied to population health risks like alcohol poisoning. “Is burden of disease differentially linked to spirits? A systematic scoping review and implications for alcohol policy.”


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Population health risks and high-alcohol beverages
Population health risks and high-alcohol beverages
Recent research in the UK suggests that the availability of lower- and no-alcohol beers led consumers to replace some consumption of regular beer with lower-strength alternatives, resulting in less alcohol consumed overall.

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Impact of low- and no- beer (UK)
Impact of low- and no- beer (UK)
Recent research in Spain suggests that the availability of lower- and no-alcohol beers led consumers to replace some consumption of regular beer with lower-strength alternatives, resulting in less alcohol consumed overall.

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Impact of low- and no- beer (Spain)
Impact of low- and no- beer (Spain)
“A bottle of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of whiskey? Can the rate of alcohol-induced harm be affected by altering the population's beverage choices.”


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Health risks of higher alcohol beverages
Health risks of higher alcohol beverages
The World Health Organization acknowledges that lower- and no-alcohol beers have the potential to help achieve NCD and SDG targets for reducing the harmful use of alcohol. In its recent Alcohol Action Plan, the WHO calls on alcohol producers to substitute full strength products in their portfolios with lower- and no-alcohol products, “with the goal of decreasing the overall levels of alcohol consumption in populations and consumer groups.”

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How brewers can support public health goals
How brewers can support public health goals
Lower- and no-alcohol products grew by more than +7% in volume across 10 key global markets in 2022 and this trend is expected to continue. Most of this growth (70%) will come from beer and cider, which make up 75% of the lower- and no-alcohol category.

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Consumers want low- and no-options and beer is leading
Consumers want low- and no-options and beer is leading
In a recent consumer study, one in five (21%) of consumers in the UK who drank alcohol said that their weekly consumption has decreased since first trying a lower- and no-alcohol alternative, demonstrating their role in encouraging moderate and responsible drinking.

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Alternatives to reduce ethanol consumption
Alternatives to reduce ethanol consumption
In a ten-country survey, one of the main reasons consumers said they choose low- and no- options is to reduce alcohol intake in general (32%).

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Alternatives to reduce ethanol consumption
Alternatives to reduce ethanol consumption
In mature markets, regulations on taxation, marketing and availability commonly differ by beverage type as well as alcohol content, and are less restrictive for beverages with less concentrated alcohol like beer. Experts call for this practice to be implemented more consistently across countries.

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Differentiated policies are the norm in mature markets
Differentiated policies are the norm in mature markets
According to one study, “Our results show clearly that beer and wine are absorbed more slowly than vodka/tonic and that the peak BAC after drinking beer is significantly lower than the peak BAC after drinking a similar amount of EtOH as wine or vodka/tonic.”

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Bodies react to different alcohols in different ways
Bodies react to different alcohols in different ways
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What they’re saying

"The theory of change, i.e., that substitution of higher-alcohol products for no-alcohol and lower-alcohol products leads to less alcohol consumed... is substantiated (by the dataset of household purchases)."

- Researchers, Peter Anderson and Daša Kokole

“Our new system will be designed around a common-sense principle: the stronger the drink, the higher the rate...That is the right thing to do, and it will help to end the era of cheap, high-strength drinks which can harm public health and enable problem drinking.”

- UK then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak

“Specific taxation [where the tax is calculated based on the amount of ethanol a beverage contains] ... promotes consumption of beverages with low alcohol content instead of beverages with high alcohol content, resulting in a reduction in total alcohol consumption.”

-World Health Organization

Moderate Consumption

Our members promote responsible drinking around the world. Check out what the Beer Institute is doing to promote moderate consumption in the United States.

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