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How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years

BACKGROUND: Drinking alcohol while pregnant is dangerous for health. To inform on this issue, various countries have adopted pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic beverages, including France since 2007, where wine holds deep cultural consonance. The aim of this research was to analyze the arguments...

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Autores principales: Millot, Ana, Serra, Martina, Gallopel-Morvan, Karine
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9458884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36091564
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.933164
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author Millot, Ana
Serra, Martina
Gallopel-Morvan, Karine
author_facet Millot, Ana
Serra, Martina
Gallopel-Morvan, Karine
author_sort Millot, Ana
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Drinking alcohol while pregnant is dangerous for health. To inform on this issue, various countries have adopted pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic beverages, including France since 2007, where wine holds deep cultural consonance. The aim of this research was to analyze the arguments put forward by the alcohol industry (producers, distributors, wholesalers, allied industries, trade associations, social aspects and public relations organizations, councilors who publicly defend wine-sector interests) via the press in France: (1) in 2007 when pregnancy warnings were first implemented, and (2) in 2018 when larger pregnancy warnings to increase visibility were proposed but not adopted. METHODS: We used documentary method to analyze the arguments advanced by the alcohol industry in mainstream (national, regional and specialized) press in France from 2000 to 2020, using the Europresse documentary database. Quantitative analysis (number and trend curve of articles, mapping alcohol-industry actors who spoke in the press) and inductive thematic content analysis (analytical framework of the arguments identified) using NVivo software were carried out. RESULTS: We found a total of 559 relevant press articles in the database, of which 85 were included in the analysis. Peaks in number of publications were found to coincide with the warning label implementation and with the expansion-project schedule. A large majority of the arguments promoted by the alcohol industry contested the pregnancy warnings measure (very few were in favor). They argued that (1) pregnancy warnings were a questionable measure (e.g., ineffective, or the pictogram clearly links alcohol to mortality), (2) pregnancy warnings would have counterproductive effects (on women and the wider economy), (3) better alternatives exist (e.g., targeted prevention programs, prevention by health professionals). A large majority of the actors who spoke in the press came from the winegrowing sector. CONCLUSION: This study fills a gap in the Anglosphere research on lobbying against alcohol warnings by analyzing lobbyists' arguments over a 20-year period covering both failed and successful industry lobbying. New findings have emerged that are likely related to the wine-oriented culture of France. In order to counter the alcohol lobbying practices we conclude with a number of public health recommendations.
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spelling pubmed-94588842022-09-10 How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years Millot, Ana Serra, Martina Gallopel-Morvan, Karine Front Public Health Public Health BACKGROUND: Drinking alcohol while pregnant is dangerous for health. To inform on this issue, various countries have adopted pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic beverages, including France since 2007, where wine holds deep cultural consonance. The aim of this research was to analyze the arguments put forward by the alcohol industry (producers, distributors, wholesalers, allied industries, trade associations, social aspects and public relations organizations, councilors who publicly defend wine-sector interests) via the press in France: (1) in 2007 when pregnancy warnings were first implemented, and (2) in 2018 when larger pregnancy warnings to increase visibility were proposed but not adopted. METHODS: We used documentary method to analyze the arguments advanced by the alcohol industry in mainstream (national, regional and specialized) press in France from 2000 to 2020, using the Europresse documentary database. Quantitative analysis (number and trend curve of articles, mapping alcohol-industry actors who spoke in the press) and inductive thematic content analysis (analytical framework of the arguments identified) using NVivo software were carried out. RESULTS: We found a total of 559 relevant press articles in the database, of which 85 were included in the analysis. Peaks in number of publications were found to coincide with the warning label implementation and with the expansion-project schedule. A large majority of the arguments promoted by the alcohol industry contested the pregnancy warnings measure (very few were in favor). They argued that (1) pregnancy warnings were a questionable measure (e.g., ineffective, or the pictogram clearly links alcohol to mortality), (2) pregnancy warnings would have counterproductive effects (on women and the wider economy), (3) better alternatives exist (e.g., targeted prevention programs, prevention by health professionals). A large majority of the actors who spoke in the press came from the winegrowing sector. CONCLUSION: This study fills a gap in the Anglosphere research on lobbying against alcohol warnings by analyzing lobbyists' arguments over a 20-year period covering both failed and successful industry lobbying. New findings have emerged that are likely related to the wine-oriented culture of France. In order to counter the alcohol lobbying practices we conclude with a number of public health recommendations. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-08-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9458884/ /pubmed/36091564 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.933164 Text en Copyright © 2022 Millot, Serra and Gallopel-Morvan. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Millot, Ana
Serra, Martina
Gallopel-Morvan, Karine
How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title_full How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title_fullStr How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title_full_unstemmed How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title_short How the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in France. A press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
title_sort how the alcohol industry fought against pregnancy warning labels in france. a press coverage analysis spanning 20 years
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9458884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36091564
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.933164
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