Principles of engagement on research and other collaborations between the brewing sector and research entities : The FACT Principles

Public-private partnerships are subject to intense scrutiny. This is specifically the case for sensitive health-related topics such as alcohol consumption. The brewing sector and representatives of the scientific community therefore stressed the need for specific principles for the proper and transparent governance of research and other collaborations between the brewing sector and research entities. At a one-day seminar, a group of scientists and representatives from the brewing and food sector reached a consensus for such principles. They adhere to the following four fundamental conditions: Freedom of research, Accessibility, Contextualization and Transparency. The points of focus in the FACT principles are open science, meaning that the methods and results are made accessible and reusable, and relationships are clearly disclosed. Actions to be taken for dissemination and implementation of the FACT Principles are, for instance, publishing them on public websites, including them in formal research agreements, and citing them in scientific publications. Scientific journals and (research) societies are encouraged to support the FACT Principles. In conclusion, the FACT Principles provide a framework for increased transparency and control of funding-related bias in research and other collaborations between the brewing sector and research entities. Monitoring their use and evaluating their impact will help to further refine and enforce the FACT Principles in the future

How full is your glass? Portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straight spirits at home in the Netherlands

Objective:Alcohol consumption may be wrongly estimated because of inaccurateinformation on actual portion sizes. We compared portion sizes of wine, fortifiedwine and straight spirits poured at home with the Dutch standard drink sizes.Design:Participants measured portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straightspirits at home up to a maximum of three times and reported these via an onlinesurvey. Average portion sizes (in millilitres) were compared with the Dutchstandard drink sizes. Portion sizes were compared between subgroups of gender,age, BMI and level of education, and for different glass types.Setting:Wageningen and surroundings, the Netherlands.Participants:Adults (N201) living in the Netherlands and consuming wine and/orstraight spirits at home at least once per week.Results:Participants poured on average 129·4 ml white wine and 131·7 ml redwine, which is significantly more than the standard of 100 ml. For fortified wine,the average poured amount was 94·0 ml, significantly more than the standard of50 ml; also for straight spirits the poured amount was significantly more than thestandard (47·0v. 35 ml).Conclusions:Participants’portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straight spiritspoured at home were on average larger than the Dutch standard drink sizes. Thissuggests that at-home alcohol consumption in the Netherlands is underestimated

The diuretic action of weak and strong alcoholic beverages in elderly men : A randomized diet-controlled crossover trial

With ageing, there is a greater risk of dehydration. This study investigated the diuretic effect of alcoholic beverages varying in alcohol concentration in elderly men. Three alcoholic beverages (beer (AB), wine (AW), and spirits (S)) and their non-alcoholic counterparts (non-alcoholic beer (NAB), non-alcoholic wine (NAW), and water (W)) were tested in a diet-controlled randomized crossover trial. For the alcoholic beverages, alcohol intake equaled a moderate amount of 30 g. An equal volume of beverage was given for the non-alcoholic counterpart. After consumption, the urine output was collected every hour for 4 h and the total 24 h urine output was measured. AW and S resulted in a higher cumulative urine output compared to NAW and W during the first 4 h (effect size: 0.25 mL p 0.40, p > 0.10). AB and NAB did not differ at any time point (effect size: −0.02 mL p > 0.70). For urine osmolality, and the sodium and potassium concentration, the findings were in line. In conclusion, only moderate amounts of stronger alcoholic beverages, such as wine and spirits, resulted in a short and small diuretic effect in elderly men

How full is your glass? Portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straight spirits at home in the Netherlands

Objective:Alcohol consumption may be wrongly estimated because of inaccurateinformation on actual portion sizes. We compared portion sizes of wine, fortifiedwine and straight spirits poured at home with the Dutch standard drink sizes.Design:Participants measured portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straightspirits at home up to a maximum of three times and reported these via an onlinesurvey. Average portion sizes (in millilitres) were compared with the Dutchstandard drink sizes. Portion sizes were compared between subgroups of gender,age, BMI and level of education, and for different glass types.Setting:Wageningen and surroundings, the Netherlands.Participants:Adults (N201) living in the Netherlands and consuming wine and/orstraight spirits at home at least once per week.Results:Participants poured on average 129·4 ml white wine and 131·7 ml redwine, which is significantly more than the standard of 100 ml. For fortified wine,the average poured amount was 94·0 ml, significantly more than the standard of50 ml; also for straight spirits the poured amount was significantly more than thestandard (47·0v. 35 ml).Conclusions:Participants’portion sizes of wine, fortified wine and straight spiritspoured at home were on average larger than the Dutch standard drink sizes. Thissuggests that at-home alcohol consumption in the Netherlands is underestimated

Tracking polysaccharides through the brewing process

Brewing is a highly complex stepwise process that starts with a mashing step during which starch is gelatinized and converted into oligo- and/or monosaccharides by enzymes and heat. The starch is mostly degraded and utilised during the fermentation process, but grains and hops both contain additional soluble and insoluble complex polysaccharides within their cell walls that persist and can have beneficial or detrimental effects on the brewing process. Previous studies have mostly been restricted to analysing the grain and/or malt prior to entering the brewing process, but here we track the fates of polysaccharides during the entire brewing process. To do this, we utilised a novel approach based on carbohydrate microarray technology. We demonstrate the successful application of this technology to brewing science and show how it can be utilised to obtain an unprecedented level of knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms at work.</p

Effect of red wine consumption on biomarkers of oxidative stress

Aims: To evaluate the effect of acute and chronic consumption of red wine or de-alcoholized red wine with a similar antioxidant capacity on plasma total antioxidant capacity (TEAC), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity and F2-isoprostanes (8-iso-PGF2α) in healthy men. Methods: Nineteen healthy men with an increased waist circumference (≥94 cm) and a body mass index above 25 kg/m2 participated in a randomized, controlled crossover design trial. They daily consumed 450 ml of red wine (four drinks; 41.4 g alcohol) or 450 ml of de-alcoholized red wine during dinner for 4 weeks each. On the last day of each treatment period, blood was collected before and 1 h after a standardized dinner with red wine or de-alcoholized red wine and also 24-h urine was collected. Results: Absolute TEAC levels were higher 1 h after dinner with red wine compared with dinner with de-alcoholized red wine (1.3 versus 1.1 mmol Trolox equivalents/l; P = 0.03). Consumption of dinner together with de-alcoholized red wine acutely stimulated NF-κB activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (0.4-0.7 HeLa equivalents/2.5 μg protein; P = 0.006), whereas this increase was completely suppressed when the dinner was combined with red wine. A chronic increase in urinary 8-iso-PGF2α after 4 weeks of red wine consumption compared with de-alcoholized red wine consumption (157 pg/mg creatinine and 141 pg/mg creatinine, respectively, P = 0.006) was also observed. Conclusions: Consumption of a moderate dose of red wine can acutely increase plasma TEAC and suppress NF-κB activation induced by a meal. Controversially, 4 weeks of red wine consumption compared with de-alcoholized red wine consumption increases the oxidative lipid damage marker 8-iso-PGF2α

Exploring the Influence of Alcohol Industry Funding in Observational Studies on Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Health

Funding of research by industry in general can lead to sponsorship bias. The aim of the current study was to conduct an initial exploration of the impact of sponsorship bias in observational alcohol research by focusing on a broad spectrum of health outcomes. The purpose was to determine whether the outcome depended on funding source. We focused on moderate alcohol consumption and used meta-analyses that are the basis of several international alcohol guidelines. These meta-analyses included observational studies that investigated the association of alcohol consumption with 14 different health outcomes, including all-cause mortality, several cardiovascular diseases and cancers, dementia, and type 2 diabetes. Subgroup analyses and metaregressions were conducted to investigate the association between moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of different health outcomes, comparing findings of studies funded by the alcohol industry, ones not funded by the alcohol industry, and studies with an unknown funding source. A total of 386 observational studies were included. Twenty-one studies (5.4%) were funded by the alcohol industry, 309 studies (80.1%) were not funded by the alcohol industry, and for the remaining 56 studies (14.5%) the funding source was unknown. Subgroup analyses and metaregressions did not show an effect of funding source on the association between moderate alcohol intake and different health outcomes. In conclusion, only a small proportion of observational studies in meta-analyses, referred to by several international alcohol guidelines, are funded by the alcohol industry. Based on this selection of observational studies the association between moderate alcohol consumption and different health outcomes does not seem to be related to funding source. </p