Size of British wine bottles blamed for alcohol abuse

British wine lovers get drunk too much - because the bottles are too big.

So says the deputy editor of the British Medical Journal Trish Groves, who has called on the industry to make half bottles of wine more widely available.

Recent studies have found that wine drinking – which accounts for almost a third of alcohol consumed in Great Britain - has reached “hazardous” levels in some of the nation’s wealthier areas.

But Groves, speaking to the BBC, says sticking to the recommended daily dose of two small glasses a day is a challenge once the normal 75cl bottle is opened.

She said: “It’s all too tempting to finish the bottle there and then to avoid waste.
“Coupled with the news that wine is getting stronger, it’s no wonder Britain’s middle classes are getting wasted.”

One way to counteract that, says Groves, is simply to follow the French example of smaller bottles that are widely available.

She said: “My local supermarket has row upon row of good-looking wines in 75cl bottles, but it offers only three wines in half bottles, hides them with the dessert wines that nobody drinks and bumps up the prices prohibitively.”

Her call comes after the British Medical Association recently urged the Government to step and tackle the ever-increasing problems surrounding alcohol abuse.

However, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association says there is already enough choice.

A spokesman said: “A range of bottle sizes is not a new idea.

“Responding to consumer demand, the wine sector is already providing an increasingly wide choice of wines in different bottle sizesand also in varied types of packaging - such as bag-in-box, pouches, cartons, screwcaps and cans.

“As an industry, we’re always keen to provide our consumers with a range of options to choose from.”

Source: The Guardian (UK)