France loses top spot in wine list
USA outstrips France as world's top consumer of wine, while researchers find a flaw in so-called “French Paradox"
THE USA has outstripped France as the world’s top wine consumer, according to the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV).
Across the world, wine consumption dipped 1% last year to 238.7million hectolitres of wine. The OIV said the global market is worth €73bn.
Drinkers in the United States downed 29 million hectolitres of wine, with domestic production accounting for 80% of the total market, said Jean-Marie Aurand, the head of the intergovernmental organisation that compiles global statistics for the industry.
France was in second place at 28 million hectolitres, followed by Germany, Italy and China.
Wine consumption also fell in other European countries such as Italy, Spain and Britain, said the OIV.
Meanwhile, researchers believe they have found a flaw with the so-called “French Paradox”, the notion in America that people who drink red wine can somehow avoid the pitfalls of a high-fat diet.
A 10-year study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that resveratrol - one of the highly touted antioxidants found in red wine - did not help people live longer.
Nor did it help reduce the risk of cancer or heart disease, according to the research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association.
According to Robert Graham, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, the “French Paradox” is still a mystery.
“This study is a great example of how difficult it is to examine the role of ‘the magic bullet’ for health and longevity,” said Dr Graham, who was not part of the research.
“The recipe for a longer, healthier life is still being developed.”
The study followed the health of older people living in two small villages in Tuscany, Italy.
When the term “French paradox” was first used in America in 1991, during the current affairs programme 60 Minutes, sales of red wine soared 44% and some producers promoted their wines as “health foods”.
The term was first coined in France, by scientists at the University of Bordeaux.
© AFP/Connexion
