Units of alcohol - Should there be a minimum price for alcohol? The Chief Medical Officer has recommended in early 2009 that the alcohol would have a minimum price per unit. But what does this mean for consumers in the United Kingdom?
Sir Liam Donaldson recommended that the minimum price for a unit of alcohol is increased to 50 pence, in an effort to try to reduce excessive consumption of alcohol in the United Kingdom. His recommendation was rejected by the government, but continues to be used by medical advisors and politicians as a response to a growing social problem.
If adopted, the minimum price would result in a bottle of wine at 13% alcohol containing nine units would be sold for a minimum of £ 4.50. It will also mark the end of promotions in supermarkets sell large quantities of alcohol at reduced prices.
Bars and pubs that currently promoting happy hour deals, like "all you can drink for £ 10" and "women drink for" free would also be affected. With alcohol with a minimum price of 50p per unit, a pint of beer with 3 units of alcohol should be sold for a minimum of £ 1.50 to the rules.
What exactly is a unit?
With all this debate about alcohol units - we wanted to get to the bottom of what a unit of alcohol is. When it comes to shares, it would be easy to assume that a drink is a unit, but unfortunately it is not so simple. A unit is 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. Therefore, a unit of alcohol is in a 25ml single measure of whiskey (40% ABV), or one third of a pint of beer (5-6% ABV) or half-standard (175 ml) glass of red wine (12% ABV).
Current guidelines recommend that men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol per day and that women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily. However, research shows that eight in 10 people do not know the exact amount of shares that are recommended in government guidelines. This means that the vast majority of drinkers may be higher than government guidelines and binge drinking regularly, which can have serious consequences on health.
It is the minimum price far?
It is not yet clear whether the recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer will never come to force and require that each unit of alcohol at a minimum price of 50p. Much of the reasoning of the Prime Minister for not taking into account the recommendations was CMO would be unfair to the majority of drinkers who consume alcohol in moderation.
An intense media interest in the debate minimum price ensures that the culture of alcohol in the United Kingdom is still a hot topic of discussion.
Posted on February 11, 2010.
