HEALTH: ‘A drink or two a day won’t kill you.’

In this study, the claim that there’s no safe level of drinking is the weakest part. The authors produce a nice curve showing the relative risk of an alcohol-related problem, which steadily increases for how much you drink. But the bottom of the curve stays very low when you’re drinking one to two drinks a day. Not only that, the authors’ uncertainty interval [margin of error] is just one drink. So the evidence that one drink is harmful, beneficial, or has no effect is statistically weak. The focus on light drinkers and the possible risks to them is therefore inappropriate.

Plus: “Anecdotally, I hear of many people seeing stories like this and then becoming sceptical, if not cynical, about public-health advice.”