that wine, drunk in moderate amounts, can help you live longer.

The study, published by Danish researchers this month, was the latest in a series that pointed to the beneficial effects of alcohol, especially wine.

Not surprisingly, wine marketing boards, brewers and distillers have rejoiced over the news, and are urging governments to revamp official guidelines on drinking.

But medical authorities have been less than delighted, claiming that such reports could encourage people to hit the bottle too hard.

"Alcohol should not be thought of as the "new drug' in terms of reducing the risks of coronary heart disease,'' the British Medical Association has said, recommending that men stick to suggested limits of 21 drinks a week and women 14.

Depending on how they are interpreted, the various studies that have appeared in recent years suggest that red wine prevents death from heart disease, that drinking in general prevents heart disease and other deaths and that teetotallers die earlier than moderate drinkers.

The reasons for these phenomena are not entirely clear, though one theory is based on the belief that red wine contains compounds similar to those found in aspirin, which decreases undesirable blood clotting and other causes of heart disease.

A recent US study found that moderate consumption of alcohol of all types increased the levels of a key enzyme in the bloodstream that unclogs blood clots.

Some doctors say too that the occasional drink is a good way to reduce stress, which is strongly linked with heart disease, while others cite the correlation between wine-drinking and a Mediterranean-style diet that includes such healthy foods as garlic, olive oil and fresh vegetables.

The Danish research, which was published in the British Medical Journal, involved more than 14,000 people.

Those who drank wine -- as opposed to beer or spirits or no alcohol at all -- had lower death rates.

"The wine drinkers experienced a significantly lower all-cause mortality than the subjects who drank no wine,'' the research team wrote, citing three to five glasses a day as the optimum level.

Over the past 15 years, heart disease deaths have declined by 30 percent in Denmark, where, the researchers pointed out, the opening of the European market has prompted Danes to drink more wine over the same time period.

Danes, moreover, could also have been making other changes to their lifestyles, especially as doctors have begun urging people to cut down on fats and to exercise more.

The researchers, however, did not ask their subjects in the latest study about diet or exercise habits, which have a strong effect on death from heart disease and cancer.

Consequently, health officials have issued several strong statements urging people to take drinking studies with a pinch of salt, pointing out that alcohol remains the biggest cause of chronic liver disease.

At the same time, the World Health Organisation has also launched a campaign against any idea that drinking is good for people.

"There is no minimum threshold below which alcohol can be consumed without any risk,'' the director of the WHO's programme on substance abuse, Mr. Hans Emblad, has said. He added: "There are other ways of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease -- avoid smoking, engage in physical activity or eat less fats.'' *** Attention all food-loving travellers! Madrid, according to the European Union's statistics agency, is the cheapest city in the EU for expatriate eaters and drinkers.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Luxembourg-based agency cited the Spanish capital as the least expensive place in the bloc for food, drink and tobacco and the third-cheapest city in which to buy clothes and shoes.

The survey, based on three years' worth of data, did not consider spending by locals, but looked mainly at costs to foreign government and business officials "with a relatively high standard of living.''