UK ministers will dilute some of the harsh rhetoric used to recommend tougher guidelines on drinking earlier this year, according to reports.
The government has been consulting health groups and drinks makers ahead of publishing new guidance on drinking limits.
It is expected to stick with a recommendation issued in January that no one should drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week.
That is roughly equivalent to six 175ml glasses of wine at 13% abv.
What the new guidelines mean for wine drinkers. Credit: Drinkaware
But, several UK media outlets, including the Daily Mail and Sunday Times, have reported that ministers are keen to show that they understand reality and that people like to enjoy a drink.
That would be a change of emphasis from when the recommendations were first published.
England’s chief medical officer, professor Dame Sally Davies, previously stressed that there was not a safe drinking level.
Current guidelines say that men should not drink more than three to four units per day, and women no more than two to three units.
The fresh guidelines will be the first major piece of alcohol policy published by the new Consverative government in the UK.
It is the first full review of UK drinking guidelines since 1995. Scotland has set the same limit, but can make its own policy.
Prime minister Theresa May’s views on alcohol have tended to focus on law and order.
As home secretary, she criticised the UK’s ’24-hour drinking culture’ but rejected minimum pricing.
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