Reducing the size of standard wine bottles could help cut alcohol consumption and related health problems, a leading medical journal says today.
Piling further pressure on the alcohol industry and retailers, the British Medical Journal urges them to discourage consumers from drinking "supersize" glasses of wine amid moves to ban large meal portions as part of the drive to slash obesity rates in the UK.
Dr Trish Groves, the journal's deputy editor, said: "I like a glass of good wine with my supper. But, once two of us have had a glass each, it's all too tempting to finish the bottle there and then. Coupled with the news that wine is getting stronger, it's no wonder Britain's middle-aged middle classes are getting wasted. Why does wine have to come in 75cl bottles?"
A recent report from Liverpool John Moores University showed that wealthy towns top the league table for hazardous drinking in the UK. The British Medical Association's recent report Alcohol Misuse: Tackling the UK Epidemic also confirms that men and women who are higher earners are more likely than the lower paid to have drunk alcohol at all, and to have drunk on five or more days a week.
While beer remains Britain's favourite drink, wine consumption rose from 10% of all alcohol in 1970 to 28.8 % in 2005. Groves asks whether a wider range of good quality and reasonably priced wine in smaller bottles would reduce consumption, identifying "a peculiarly British problem", as restaurants and cafes in France offer wines by the carafe, pichet (small jug) and half-bottle, and mini-markets have a good range at 37.5cl at fair prices.
The journal's recommendation comes as leading supermarket Waitrose prepares to make such a move. On Monday it will announce the launch in all its stores of Vin à Deux – an all-French range of eight quality wines in 50cl bottles, which it claims is a "comfortable" size for two people to share, providing one glass each. At the same time, it is phasing out the half-bottle, while increasing its range of 25cl solo-glass wines.
Wine buyer Nick Room said: "Drinking 'à deux' will dispense with unfinished bottles of wine or feeling the need to finish off a full bottle. The innovative size will put a stop to wine buffs drinking wine past its best, and the new concept will cater for responsible drinking habits of the future."
Meanwhile, the Conservatives yesterday unveiled policy proposals for tougher action to curb under-age binge-drinking, which include a ban on promotions selling alcohol below cost price and a "three strikes and you're out" policy for retailers selling alcohol to children. Shadow home secretary, David Davis, said: "The government's lax approach to 24-hour drinking has fuelled violent crime and disorder on our streets. We need concerted law enforcement to curb the mayhem generated by this reckless approach. Today, we are sending a clear signal that a Conservative government will take action to prevent the cheap sale of cut-price alcohol and clamp down on the minority of retailers who turn a blind eye to those buying alcohol under-age."
