Wine Law

At the same time, the scientific claim to wine being a "healthy and hygienic" drink, to quote Louis Pasteur, was discredited thanks to the influence of hygienism campaigns. These initially focussed on the battle against excessive and regular consumption among adults in the years 1950 to 1970, followed by the fight against consumption during pregnancy and finally, from the years 1980-1990, against occasional excessive consumption among young people 17 . Apart from the case of pregnant women, the hygienism message advocated moderation, notably by the 1984 prevention campaign slogan “one glass is fine, three glasses spell trouble”. Up until the introduction of the Evin law, wine retained its privileged position over other alcoholic beverages, mainly due to the distinction between fermented and distilled drinks. The Evin law removed this distinction by categorising them all as alcoholic beverages. After frenzied parliamentary debates between opposing hygienism campaigners and advocates for the financing of cultural and sporting events, Evin law n° 91-32 of 10 January 1991 relating to the campaign against smoking and alcoholism was adopted in order boost the principle of hygienism and limit the risks relating to the overconsumption of alcohol. It lays down the principle of a ban on advertising of alcoholic beverages, with a few exceptions. However, the Constitutional Council did not validate the entire bill because it allowed for the allocation of a pre-tax 10% of advertising spending in favour of health education and alcohol prevention to be overseen by joint bodies. This measure was censored because it contradicted the principle of non-allocation of revenue to expenditure and the budgetary control imperative of Parliament 18 . The Evin law was amended by Law n° 2005-157 of 23 February 2005 to allow references to areas of production, recognised characteristics, designations and indications of origin, colour and bouquet, provided these references were objective. The packaging of the wine must not appear in the advertisement. Law n ° 2016-41 of 26 January 2016 revising our health system, inserted article L.3323-1 in the Public Health Code, proposing a negative 17 "Cover this wine that I could not drink", The public health discourse on wine in France: towards a new hygienism? ss. dir. V. Péan and A. Doré, Sc. Po Toulouse 2018, 5 th year course “Risks, Science, Environment and Health”, p. 6. 18 M. Jelila, Supervision of advertising for alcoholic beverages; The evolution of the Evin law between hygienism and defense of the wine heritage, RD. Rur. 2017, File 10, n° 8.