When pubs, bars and restaurants in England removed their largest size of wine sold by the glass, consumers drank less alcohol
Alcohol consumption is the fifth largest contributor to premature death and disease globally. Many cues in physical and economic environments influence alcohol consumption across populations. One proposed intervention to excessive alcohol consumption is reducing the size of servings of alcoholic drinks sold by the glass, but there has been no real-world evidence for the effectiveness of this.
In the new study, researchers asked 21 licensed premises in England to remove from their menus their largest serving of wine by the glass – usually 250mL – for four weeks. The researchers then tracked the total volume of wine, beer and cider sold by each establishment.
Over the course of the four weeks, the total volume of wine sold by the licensed premises decreased by 7.6%, and there was no overall increase in beer and cider sales. There was an increase in the sales of smaller servings of wine by the glass – generally 125mL and 175mL – but no impact on sales of wine by the bottle or beer or cider sales.
“This suggests that this is a promising intervention for decreasing alcohol consumption across populations, which merits consideration as part of alcohol licensing regulations,” the authors say.
Marteau adds, “Removing the largest serving size of wine by the glass in 21 licensed premises reduced the volume of wine sold, in keeping with the wealth of research showing smaller serving sizes reduce how much we eat. This could become a novel intervention to improve population health by reducing how much we drink.”
