Health

Abstract

Abstract You probably aren’t allergic to wine. Few people are, though far more are anxious about wine’s health effects for one reason or another. Wine does pose a serious immediate threat to a small number of people. Everyone should care about the long-term risks of chronic alcohol over-consumption—even though research can’t simply tell you how much is too much. The recent spate of concern about whether mainstream wines contain toxins or other contaminants, in contrast, has everything to do with marketing and very little to do with science. This chapter reviews the current state of wine allergy and wine sensitivity research, mistruths at the heart of “clean” wine, and how values complicate the business of trying to establish limits for safe and healthy alcohol consumption.