Will it work? Scotland, in particular, has a much greater love for wine today than it used to. In Scotland, we drink more wine per adult than in England and Wales. We have more than doubled the amount of wine consumed between 1994 and 2014. The wine accounts for about 31% of Scottish alcohol sales, with over 4/5 of that consumed at home.
This will be a problem with any initiative aimed at the pub industry. It would be helpful if the participating licensed premises provided a home-based translation of what a unit of alcohol meant. But it is not easy.
Unit confusion
In the UK, we are advised to limit our daily alcohol consumption to between two and three units for women and from three to four for men. However, there are many examples of people being confused about what a team means when it comes to wine. Only half of the adults in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey correctly identified the amount of alcohol in a single glass of wine. One in five adults knew the exact number. Around 40% of women and men could correctly recall their respective daily alcohol consumption limits.
‘Supersize me’ Jarp2.
It’s easier to understand the units for some alcoholic beverages. A pint of beer, for example, is usually two units. A half-pint is usually one unit. Most spirit drinkers know that a shot of spirit is one unit. The standard sizes are a great way to communicate the volume of a team. They also help drinkers stay within the guidelines. This is especially useful for beer, as almost half of it is consumed at licensed establishments. Spirits are also mainly available in shops like wine, but they have a similar alcohol content.
The alcohol content of wine varies so widely that it is confusing in pubs. Many do not sell a 125ml or don’t make it clear on their menus. Domestic wine glasses are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. We tend to top up our glasses because we drink wine at home.
Guideline grumbles
Other cautions are necessary. The current guidelines for responsible drinking have been in debate recently. The “one-size” message is not suitable for everyone. We should make distinctions among younger and older drinkers as well as women who are breastfeeding or pregnant. From the Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that those older than 65 should drink no more than 1.5 units a week.
Budimir Jevtic
You can see the difficulties in practice when you examine the three wine measurements on sale at the East Dunbartonshire Pilot. Let’s say a bottle contains 12% alcohol. The three sizes of glasses that could be sold in East Dunbartonshire bars are: 125ml 1.5 units, 175ml is 2.1 units, and 250ml equals 3 units. For a wine with 14% alcohol, the largest glass contains 3.5 unit, which is over the daily limit of all women. Even the smallest of glasses of this stronger wine is above the recommended alcohol intake for those over 65.
The current pub volumes aren’t helping. It’s not practical to sell wine in units equivalent to a shot or half-pint. We could designate the 125ml wine glass as the standard pub measurement for wine, rather than calling it the small glass. We could also promote the phrase, “125 is one-five”.
While it is great to have a lot of outlets selling smaller quantities of wine, you must make sure that they are priced proportionately. This type of scheme could backfire if the 250ml glasses are more economical. It is important to make sure that the promotion of this scheme in every pub is done properly.