Bruges court heard how defendant had condition called auto-brewery syndrome sometimes brought on by intestinal problems
A Belgian man has been acquitted of drunk-driving because he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), an extremely rare condition whereby the body produces alcohol, his lawyer has said.
Anse Ghesquiere said on Monday that in “another unfortunate coincidence” her client worked at a brewery, but three doctors who independently examined him had confirmed he had ABS.
Continue reading...Brother and sister, ages five and eight, killed as woman drives 25ft into a building, sheriff says
A young brother and sister died and several people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a young child’s birthday party on Saturday at a boat club, according to a Michigan sheriff.
An eight-year-old girl and her five-year-old brother died at the scene, when a 66-year-old woman crashed 25ft into the building at about 3pm at the Swan Creek Boat Club in Berlin Township, about 30 miles (48km) south of Detroit, the Monroe county sheriff, Troy Goodnough, said.
Continue reading...New England MP accuses opponents of exploiting issue for political gain, while footage emerges of deputy Nationals leader appearing to slur her words
Barnaby Joyce says he’s giving up alcohol for Lent while accusing political opponents of seeking to exploit the issue of parliamentarians’ consumption of alcohol, as the conduct of politicians again falls under the spotlight.
The shadow veterans affairs minister made the comments on Monday after the deputy Nationals leader, Perin Davey, admitted she had two drinks before a Senate committee hearing in which she appeared to slur and stumble over words.
Continue reading...Increasing preference said to be driven by desire to be healthier and is fuelling trend for 100ml taster bottles
As the adage goes: good things come in small packages. According to alcohol industry experts British consumers are increasingly choosing to enjoy their beverages in smaller portions, but of higher quality – fuelling a trend for 100ml taster bottles.
The shift comes from a desire to be healthier, experts say, with drinking among UK teenagers and young people falling. In June 2023, Tesco sold 25% more low- and non-alcoholic beer than in dry January.
Continue reading...Shop will be open only to non-Muslim diplomats – but some fear it is first step to wider availability of alcohol in teetotal kingdom
The news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question: is this a minor policy tweak, or a major upheaval?
Sources familiar with preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on Wednesday, as a document circulated indicating just how carefully leaders of the teetotal Gulf kingdom will manage its operations.
Continue reading...Addiction experts urge state to promote month of abstinence but alcohol lobby says idea is out of step with French culture
Dry January is at the centre of a political row in France after more than 45 professors of addiction studies signed a letter urging the state to promote a month of abstinence from alcohol.
A group of senior academics and doctors working on addiction have written to the French health minister to say that not enough is being done by the state to campaign on alcohol risks, and the government should support an alcohol-free month at the start of the year.
Continue reading...Home Office plans wording ‘update’ but campaigners call for new offence to help address low conviction rate
The Home Office has announced plans to “modernise” spiking laws in a move it claims will help bring perpetrators to justice. But experts said the changes will not make any difference without simultaneous investment in police training and other measures to improve the handling of cases on the ground.
Under plans unveiled this weekend, the government will amend the criminal justice bill to make clear that spiking is illegal. It is also drawing up new guidance to provide an “unequivocal” definition of the crime.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Researchers say producers of alcoholic drinks ‘intensively using’ health claims in efforts to reverse declining consumption
The alcohol industry is targeting health-conscious younger Australians with nutritional claims such as “low calorie”, “low sugar” and “gluten free” appearing on half of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks, according to new research.
In the first study to assess how frequently health claims are used by the alcohol industry, researchers analysed 491 pre-mixed products found in three major retailers (Dan Murphy’s, Liquorland, BWS) in Sydney.
Continue reading...Harmful habits are worsening public health, says report, as groups urge crackdown on ‘irresponsible’ industries
Firms are earning £52.7bn a year from UK sales of tobacco, junk food and excessive alcohol, and their consumption is contributing to Britain’s rising tide of illness, a report says.
The figures prompted a coalition of health, medical and children’s organisations to demand an urgent crackdown on “the irresponsible behaviour of health-harming industries”.
NHS hospitals admit 2.5 million patients a year for treatment of diseases directly linked to being overweight (1.02 million), drinking (980,000) or smoking (506,000).
About 459,000 people cannot work because they are too ill to do so as a result of their smoking (289,000), alcohol consumption (99,000) or being morbidly obese, with a body mass index over 40 (70,000).
People who smoke or drink at harmful levels are more likely to be jobless and earn less than those who do not – a “wage penalty” for their unhealthy lifestyles.
That wage penalty, together with unemployment and lost productivity due to smoking, drinking and obesity, costs the UK £31bn a year.
Continue reading...Method could be used to stop people from unlocking cars or to support bartenders serving alcohol
Whether it is the story of Peter Piper and his pickled peppers or a woman selling sea shells on the seashore, tongue-twisters tackled when sober can sound rather different after a drink.
Now researchers believe such changes, in particular those relating to pitch and frequency, could be used to alert people to their level of intoxication.
Continue reading...OECD says 26% have at least six alcoholic drinks in a single session at least once a month
British women top the list for the world’s biggest female binge drinkers, a report has found.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compared alcohol consumption across 33 countries.
Continue reading...Sobering-up facility not completed, emergency workers unclear about their role in new scheme – and it begins on Melbourne Cup Day
It’s been almost six years since Tanya Day hopped on a train to Melbourne but never made it to the city.
The 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman was arrested for being drunk in public on 5 December 2017 after she fell asleep. She was placed in a police cell to sober up, suffered a head injury and later died.
Continue reading...Experts say hop yields and quality will continue to drop by 2050 if farmers don’t adapt to higher temperatures
Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned.
The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods.
Continue reading...Once dismissed as a swimming pool drink, rosé is becoming the go-to wine for the French as traditions change
For the French, a glass of chilled blush rosé was once considered a delicate but not entirely serious “swimming pool drink”; a summer apéritif for lightweight, often female, tipplers.
Real wine lovers would select a red heavy with tannins, or a traditional white – both considered the true expression of French terroir, the untranslatable concept encompassing not just the soil in which the vines grow but also the natural, geological climatic and cultural elements associated with it.
Continue reading...New trade barriers were compounded by Covid and tax changes
Kimi Karjalainen and his brother Marko poured their life savings into Bone Machine Brewing Co when it opened in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, in 2017 before moving to Hull, as part of the craft beer revolution that swept Britain.
“The entire investment, not including time and labour that we gave for free, was about £70,000,” Karjalainen said. Four weeks ago, it was gone. “That was my parents’ retirement.”
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Coalition argue migration rates are behind housing crisis
The Coalition have pursued Labor over those figures, despite the numbers being lower than what was forecast when the Coalition was in power, and due to the re-opening of the borders after the pandemic closures.
I’m very supportive of migration to Australia which helped build this country, but the pace and the rate of that migration is absolutely a legitimate issue for public debate and the impact that has on services into our community is also very legitimate, particularly housing. Frankly, I thought this was a particularly tone deaf contribution from the business community today, suggesting that the only numbers that matter were the permanent migration program and not the temporary workers, students who are coming here right now.
Because we know they are coming in extraordinary numbers and by the end of this year, I’ve been told by people in the industry it’s going to be eye wateringly high numbers, perhaps the largest ever on record.
If we want to continue to be competitive in attracting global talent, our migration system needs to be reformed.
Australia is competing against other countries for the best and brightest; and slow or complex migration systems, which do not provide appropriate levels of certainty for someone looking to uproot their lives to move internationally, puts us at a serious disadvantage.
There is a current misconception that our migration figures are higher than normal.
It is important to recognise migration numbers currently recorded simply reflect a rebalancing after the pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021.
Continue reading...Andrews government unveils plan for 20-bed Collingwood facility as public drunkenness is decriminalised
Victoria’s first permanent sobering up centre will be set up in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Collingwood ahead of the decriminalisation of public drunkenness in the state.
The 20-bed facility has been announced as the Andrews government shifts away from treating public drunkenness as a crime and towards making it a health issue.
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Continue reading...Charity calls on government to do more to restrict unhealthy lifestyle choices
One of the country’s leading health charities is calling for urgent action to reduce the “carcinogenic effects” of cheap alcohol and unhealthy food after a 40% increase in deaths from liver cancer in a decade.
Liver cancer is now the fastest rising cause of cancer death in the UK, warns the British Liver Trust. Since the early 1970s, liver cancer mortality rates have more than tripled.
Continue reading...From Ghent to Galway, Amsterdam to Edinburgh, everyone is tiring of rowdy drunkenness. Is this the end of the foreign stag weekend?
Name: The Great Stag Ban.
Age: Recent.
Continue reading...US researchers discover reduction of signalling in part of the brain could have significant impact on cardiovascular system
Light to moderate alcohol consumption may lower the risk of heart disease because it leads to long-term reductions in stress signalling in the brain, new research claims.
But cardiologists warn the cardiac benefits do not mean we should ignore other dangers of alcohol.
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