Good practice principles low rik drinking EU RARHA

Chapter 3
The Standard Drink concept and consumer
information on alcoholic beverages
Deirdre Mongan a
A “standard drink” (or “unit” in the UK) is a notional drink that contains a specified amount of pure
alcohol (ethanol). It is usually expressed as a certain measure of beer, wine, or spirits. One Standard
Drink (SD) always contains the same amount of alcohol regardless of the container size or the type of
alcoholic beverage, but does not necessarily correspond to the typical serving size in the country in
question. The concept of Standard Drink was introduced as a means of providing information to
drinkers to help them measure their own alcohol consumption. It is often used in alcohol awareness or
education campaigns as a way of communicating public authorities’ guidelines regarding low risk
drinking. Standard Drinks are also commonly used in drinking surveys for enquiring about respondents’
drinking levels and patterns.
When guidelines on alcohol consumption levels associated with low risk of health harm are
expressed in Standard Drinks, consumers’ awareness and understanding of what a Standard Drink
actually is becomes crucial. Calculating one’s alcohol intake in numbers of SDs is not an easy task if
drinks of various sizes and varying alcoholic strengths are consumed. When communicating drinking
guidelines to the public, examples of the number of SDs in drinks are often provided illustrated with
pictures of glasses, cans and bottles. b Another way to inform and assist consumers is to include on the
alcoholic beverage package a statement on the number of Standard Drinks contained in it. Such
statements are required by law in Australia[ 1 ], included on alcoholic beverage labels based on an
agreement between the Government and alcohol industry in the United Kingdom [ 2 ], and used on a
voluntary basis by some alcohol manufacturers in some countries; for example in Denmark, members
of the Brewers’ Association have since the 1990s indicated the alcohol content of beer bottles and cans
in SDs. c
The present Chapter provides brief overviews of the uses of the Standard Drink concept in
different contexts, and in European countries in particular, and summarizes research findings regarding
people’s understanding of SDs. While variation in the national definitions of a Standard Drink is looked
at in Chapter 2, the present Chapter focuses on the usefulness of an agreed EU definition of Standard
Drink based on views expressed by national informants, and on support among public health and
addiction experts for a move towards a common definition.
Finally, with reference to the current absence of EU regulation regarding the information to be
given on alcoholic beverage labels on the health relevant aspects of the drinks, consumers’ and experts
views of useful on-pack information are discussed, including support for mandatory warnings about
health or safety risks of alcoholic beverages.
The present Chapter draws on information gathered and compiled in various Tasks carried out by
partners in Joint Action RARHA’s Work Package “Guidelines”:
• An update on the national definitions of the size of a Standard Drink, performed by the Istituto
Superiore di Sanità (ISS) by means of a survey addressed to national informants[ 3 ];
• An overview of country-based practices in defining a Standard Drink, public understanding of
the concept, and views on the usefulness of an agreed EU definition of Standard Drink, based
on information gathered from national informants by the Health Service Executive (HSE) [ 4 ];
a
Health Research Board, Ireland
b
http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/alcohol-lower-risk-guidelines-units.aspx
c
http://www.food-supply.dk/article/view/34365/bryggerierne_lancerer_genstandsmaerkning#
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Good practice principles for low risk drinking guidelines