Moderation Needed on Medicinal Wine Claims

With your article “Medicinal Claims for Wine Are Recorked” (Nov. 11), perhaps the American public can look forward to receiving medical advice about drinking from their doctors, not wine producers.

Even “60 Minutes” is unwilling to let Beringer Winery quote the TV show in its attempts to portray red wine as a health food. The U.S. Justice Department has filed a motion for stay of enforcement against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for its decision to allow Beringer to use “necktie” labels touting the benefits of drinking.

The “French paradox” (on the supposed health benefits of wine) contains many questions. For example, the French are twice as likely to die from cirrhosis as are Americans. And guidelines for moderate drinking are clearly missing in the wine industry’s attempts to take advantage of these studies. We cannot overlook the fact that 100,000 Americans lose their lives each year from a variety of alcohol-related causes, such as drunk driving and homicide.

ANGELA GOLDBERG

Pasadena

The writer is chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Alcohol Policy Coalition.