Scientists, healthcare professionals and medical practitioners from all over the world Thursday began a three-day conference here to discuss the impact of wine consumption on human health. In all, 27 specialists from 10 countries will present papers at the WineHealth 2013 meeting, Xinhua cited the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying. The Australian wine industry hopes the discussion will influence policy discussions on wine and health.
"Unfortunately, as Australia debates how to deal with health and social issues around alcohol abuse, we are now hearing claims from some lobby groups that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption," said Paul Evans, chief executive of Winemakers Federation of Australia. "These experts will present a number of studies that contribute to the growing body of research linking moderate wine consumption with a healthy lifestyle." Clare Hughes, nutrition programme manager for Cancer Council New South Wales, said people who drink should follow the government's alcohol guidelines. "But we can't ignore a huge body of independent evidence linking moderate alcohol consumption with increased risk of cancer," she said. The Heart Foundation of Australia recommends people eat at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day to ensure sufficient antioxidant intake.
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