Pubs, Bars and Restaurants Should Sell Wine in Smaller Glasses
Liberal Democrat Greg Mulholland is to propose a bill next week to the House of Commons calling for the reinstatement of traditional 125ml measures.
Many bars, pubs and restaurants sell wine in glasses of 175ml and 250ml measurements which the MP for Leeds North-West argues that customers are ‘less aware’ of how many units of alcohol they are consuming when drinking from the larger glasses.
Mr Mulholldand said "In the last few years there has been a deliberate move by many bar and pub companies to phase out the traditional standard size 125ml glass of wine and only sell the larger 175ml and 250ml size. "In the latter case this is almost half a pint of wine."
He added: "The result inevitably has been that wine drinkers are less aware of how many units of alcohol they are drinking when they have 'a few of glasses of wine'.
"This is a real concern at a time when the figures show that alcohol related health problems are increasing, including women who drink the majority of wine purchased in bars and pubs."
With the ever increasing concern on alcohol consumption, most wine drinkers are not familiar with the unit content in their glasses. The 250ml serving can hold up to a third of a bottle of wine!
Many wine drinkers may feel this is an infringement on their right of choice and being told they ‘have’ to use the smaller measurements could cause anger with those sensible drinkers!
Not to mention the thoughts of licensed publicans’ who will undoubtedly see their profits from larger servings fall. Many pub chains have made it a policy to get rid of the 125ml measures as bigger glasses equal higher prices and more profits.
The Office for National Statistics suggested last week that men should drink on average 18.7 units of alcohol in a week, compared to only 9 units for women. One bottle of wine equates to 9 units!
The Goblet Style Glass
With more women turning to wine drinking, they seem to want that sophisticated look of the goblet style glass regardless of size or what measurements are inside. We have all become accustomed to the larger wine glass and use them at home thinking we are quite safe as we are only ‘having the one’ – albeit a good half a bottle of the wine!
One idea could be the introduction of units printed on each glass, keeping the drinkers fully aware of the ‘safe’ limits they drink. Slogans could be matched next to the units as in ‘1 unit = you are just about safe to drive’, whereas ‘6 units = get a taxi, your in no fit state’.
Cigarettes are certainly harmful to health and can lead to a high death rate. Everybody is well aware of this each time they pick up the packet – so why can this not be extended to all glasses and beer mats in the pubs, clubs and bars? This could be further extended on all bottled beers and wines.
Binge drinking among women has soared in recent years and the recommended number of 14 units for women a week has gone out the window.