france dry january
France gets first 'dry January' campaign...
(Image credit: Jack Goodall / Alamy)

Dozens of health organisations, including psychologists, anti-addiction experts and patient advocates, have officially launched ‘dry January’ in France, mirroring the campaign launched by Alcohol Change UK in 2013.

But dry January has opened up a new fault line in France’s increasingly complicated relationship with wine and alcohol in general.

More than 40 figures, including chefs and writers, criticised the concept as an ‘Anglo-Saxon and puritan obsession’ in an open letter published by Le Figaro newspaper in December.

‘This initiative dismays me,’ wrote Philippe Claudet, lead author of the article.

He said it was another example of French drinkers being made to feel guilty ‘each time [they] caress the sides of a glass before bringing it to [their] lips’.

Debate over dry January in France escalated in November when it was reported that president Emmanuel Macron opposed the idea.

Macron has not commented publicly, but French wine news site Vitisphere reported that he had assured Champagne producers that he would not back a dry January campaign.

France’s health ministry has so far not endorsed the campaign for 2020.

Organisers of first French dry January campaign say that a month of abstinence can help people to lose weight, sleep better and save money, among other health benefits.

Health campaigners and leading doctors have repeatedly highlighted alcohol-related illness in France in recent years and called for tougher regulation, which has led to fierce battles with wine industry groups, in particular.

France’s national academy of medicine said in 2019 that alcohol was responsible for 41,000 deaths per year in the country.

See also:

War of words escalates between French wine group and medics

French Senate agrees wine is part of national heritage

Is dry January beneficial?

Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.