New unit measurement for alcohol, binge drinking down
January 23, 2008
By Lucy Shaw
A new calculation method for alcohol consumption has been released to reflect larger measures and stronger alcoholic drinks, especially in wine.
The revamped unit guide, released by the Office for National Statistics, calculates a small glass of 12.5% wine as 1.5 units, a medium glass of 12.5% wine as 2 units and a 75cl bottle of wine as 9 units.
The number of units in a medium glass of wine using the new guidelines has doubled from one unit to two.
The maximum recommended units per week is 21 for men and 14 for women.
The report, released yesterday from the Office of National Statistics, highlights the continual trend of declining alcohol consumption, indicating that the British public are responding to the message about responsible drinking.
Commenting on the report, Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said: 'Long-term trends on alcohol consumption continue to improve. It is clear that the vast majority of people drink sensibly and should not be punished for the sins of the minority.'
The report also showed that binge drinking in the UK had dropped, with fewer men and women exceeding their weekly recommended units than in recent years. The proportion of men drinking more than 21 units fell from 29% in 2000 to 23% in 2006.
Knowledge of alcohol units remains high, with 85% of men and women aware of measuring alcohol consumption in units.
The change in how alcohol consumption estimates are derived however, does not in iteself reflect a real change in adult drinking trends.
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I need more units or shorter weeks!!!!
Ricardo Grellet, Sommelier, Chile
Houston, we have a problem. I can just about see why Jeremy Beadles (WSTA) considers a decline in alcohol consumption to be signs of an 'improvement', but this is a difficult message for the industry to deal with. Yes, we all support the concept of moderate consumption, but what will Decanter have to write about if this 'improvement' continues? A doctor quoted in the Daily Mail yesterday warned of the dangers of middle class excess noting "These people share a bottle of wine with their partner every night as well as having gin and tonics before supper." I have no brief for the gin and tonic, but when a daily bottle shared between two over a dinner is associated with hazard – which it now is, based on the uprated unit definitions - the wine business is in a deep hole.
Self-regulation has to be better than the dead hand of Government and, given that this latest broadside has been triggered by recognition of the trend to higher alcohol in wine (one which few people actually claim to prefer) we must take a long hard look at this. But can we, at the same time, seek more clarity over what actually constitutes a 'recommended daily limit'?
Hugo Rose MW, Wine Consultant, London, UK
As usual such initiatives are based upon some bureaucratic organisation with no relationship to the real world.
Binge drinking involves consumption of large amounts of alcohol, normally without food, as the first major issue. Secondly a small (125ml) glass is completely ridiculous since the establishments frequented by such "binge drinkers" sell 175ml or 250ml glasses as the norm and given the pricing, the larger glass is the one which has the greater incentive to purchase (the BOGOF of the bar owner).
Also who in reality regularly drinks a 12.5% bottle of wine? Many articles have been written and published about the drive for physiologically ripe grapes and how this fuels wines of 14% alcohol and above. Study Australian, Californian and Chilean wines and how many do you see below 14%? Worse is fact that the label may purport 14 or 14.5% alcohol but the allowance for some error is often 1% so we could easily be seeing 15 - 15.5% alcohol in bottles.
The "sweetness" to the palette of modern, high alcohol, fruit driven wines as well as the sickly sweet "Alco pops" helps disguise what is being consumed and more importantly helps make consumption more palatable to a younger age group (who remembers tasting beer at 12 and thinking it was gorgeous?)
The history of heavy drinking and alcohol related behavioural and health problems was prevalent even in Victorian times. Cheaper alcohol and higher wealth in today's society makes this available to a younger generation.
Using unit measurement for "educational" information will be read and understood by relatively few people and worse many will not realise that the unit being supplied probably in no way relates to what they are actually consuming. It will take much more than this to change years of anti-social behaviour and encourage responsibility and moderation. It is seen to be "cool" and "competitive" to drink vast quantities (quantity not quality) and it's this that has to change not some arbitrary "unit measurement" counting when people are socialising.
Iain Liston-Brown
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