Relief for wine: the European Parliament avoids labeling the bottles as a carcinogenic product

• Consumption The European Parliament votes today that wine labels report the risk of cancer, like tobacco

The Spanish wine sector breathes a sigh of relief.

Finally, and by a margin of

against, the European Parliament has ruled out this Wednesday that wine bottles carry a warning on their label about a hypothetical risk of cancer caused by its consumption, although it leaves open a door to a tax review.

"We are satisfied with the decision of the European Parliament that now coincides with what we have been working on for a long time, that our product be consumed moderately and not abusively,"

, commercial director of the

, who considers that the initial proposal to equate wine consumption and cancer was "completely simplistic and without scientific basis".

The MEP

who, together with the spokesperson for the PP in the European Parliament,

, spokesperson for the PP in the European Parliament, have led the presentation of amendments to the report of the European Commission, has indicated to EL MUNDO after the votes that "the criminalization of the sector has been saved".

A good part of the Spanish deputies have voted in favor of introducing the mention of "harmful" alcohol consumption instead of warning about any consumption as a factor in the development of cancer.

They have only voted against part of the PSOE delegation, the three deputies from JxCat, the two from ERC, Ernest Urtasun (Catalunya en Comú) and Pernando Barrena (Bildu).

Risk factor

The initial text, with the support of Los Verdes, sought to include alcohol as a 'risk factor' for contracting the disease and

The Spanish delegation of the PP in the European Parliament based its amendments on the defense of the Mediterranean diet, which is Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and which includes the moderate consumption of wine, cava and beer as part of a healthy and balanced diet.

In the first vote, the amendments against putting labels on bottles of wine, beer and spirits announcing that they cause cancer went ahead with 392 votes in favor, 251 against and 48 abstentions;

in the second, equating moderate consumption in a Mediterranean diet with abuse was rejected, with 381 votes in favor, 276 against and 32 abstentions.

The third vote referred to the prohibition of brands in the sponsorship of sporting events attended by minors, which also did not go ahead with 376 votes in favor, 260 against and 56 abstentions.

On this occasion, the amendment was led by the representative of the Slovak People's Party.

"The problem is that a report as important as the fight against cancer has been used to introduce a debate on alcohol consumption, without a scientific basis, and focusing on a sector that is so important for our country, but not on other issues. such as the sun's radiation, gases, etc., and that is why we are very satisfied with the final result that the Spanish delegation of the PP has led and because we could not fail our great wine sector", said Zoido, who has recalled that the high levels of wine consumption in Spain and, nevertheless, "we are the second country in the world, after Japan, and the first in Europe, in terms of life expectancy".

In her social networks, Dolors Monteserrat explained after the votes that this morning that

which is harmful to health, and we defend the moderate consumption of wine and our recognized Mediterranean diet".

health warnings

The European Parliament debated in this way the European Plan to Combat Cancer prepared by the European Commission and which included alcohol as a "risk factor" for contracting cancer and stressed that "there is no safe level of alcohol consumption".

In addition, it called for a 10% reduction in the harmful consumption of alcohol by 2025 in the EU and encouraged the Commission and the Member States to promote actions to reduce and prevent its consumption.

In addition, with the amendments presented, it has been possible to eliminate another reference to the fact that "there is no safe level of consumption".

Now, it has been replaced by another text that says that

and, instead of supporting a proposal to improve the labeling of alcoholic beverages to include health warnings, it is finally decided to request that it be included "information on moderate and responsible consumption".

Specifically, the text that will have to be ratified this afternoon includes that "tobacco consumption and the harmful consumption of alcohol, poor nutrition, a high body mass index, a sedentary lifestyle and environmental pollution are risk factors common to other chronic diseases; therefore considers that cancer prevention and risk reduction measures should be applied in the context of an integrated chronic disease prevention programme"

The reaction and criticism when the initial text, which was ultimately not approved, was released came mainly from parties, institutions, such as the communities of Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja, and wine products in Spain, above all because the text did not differentiate between moderate and excessive consumption.

The sector

Jose Luis Benitez

commercial director of the Spanish Wine Federation, recalls that the 860 wineries that belong to this organization already include in their usual commercial information the recommendation of a moderate consumption of the product: "This nuance was fundamental, the difference between moderate consumption and responsible for excessive, for which we thank the parliamentarians who presented the amendments and also all those who have voted in favor of them, because there are many representatives of Northern European countries who continue to think otherwise, although without any scientific rigor and without adjusting to reality, and the vote has been close.

Benítez recalls that this vote was not going to become a legislative norm "but it was very important because these reports are used as a reference by the Member States."

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