Canada has overhauled its alcohol consumption guidance, and the difference between the new and old recommendations is stark. CCSA released a report containing the guidelines on Tuesday. While acknowledging that 40 per cent of people living in Canada aged 15 and older consume more than six standard drinks per week, the report warns that no amount of alcohol is safe to consume. It recommends a new cap on weekly alcohol consumption that is significantly lower than the previous one and lays out new guidelines for people who are breastfeeding or trying to conceive.
The CCSA announced in September that it would launch an initiative to bring the existing Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines β released in β in line with the latest evidence on alcohol consumption health and safety risks. The new guidance would also address the specific needs of groups facing a higher risk from the harms associated with alcohol, including youth, women, older adults and people with chronic diseases.
This update to the guidelines will reflect the most recent evidence available and put Canada on the leading edge of the research. Aided by funding from Health Canada, the CCSA spent 20 months updating the guidelines with scientists, researchers and representatives from federal, provincial and territorial governments and national organizations.
Rather than laying out strict rules around drinking, the new CCSA guidance provides a continuum β or scale β of risk associated with various levels of alcohol use to help people make healthier choices. The new continuum defines the health and safety risks associated with drinking as negligible-to-low for people who have two standard drinks or less per week; moderate for those who have between three and six standard drinks per week; and increasingly high for those who consume more than six standard drinks per week.
In other words, to minimize the risk associated with drinking, the CCSA recommends consuming no more than two alcoholic drinks per week, a dramatic reduction from the previous cap of 15 drinks for men and 10 drinks for women.
