Supermarket cheap alcohol to blame for 'horrifying' rise in drinking, says Bristol expert
A Bristol health expert has blamed cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets for a "horrifying" rise in drinking.
NHS Bristol chief executive Deborah Evans has chaired a study into the cost of alcohol in the UK and the effect it is having on young people.
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It found that alcohol can be bought for as little as 9p per unit, with some supermarkets selling three litres of cider for just £1.18.
The study, called the Core Cities Health Improvement Collaborative (CCHIC) – made up of the primary care trusts from the eight largest cities outside London – showed the price of alcohol is falling.
Ms Evans said: "The price at which alcohol can be bought in and around our inner cities today is nothing short of horrifying.
"This wasn't just happening in one city, but in a number.
"Even leaving aside the consequences this type of cheap alcohol has on crime and disorder in our big cities, the effects that this type of drink has on our health doesn't bear thinking about."
The study discovered three litres of cider in big name supermarkets for just £1.18 and £1.26 – which is equivalent to 9p and 10p a unit respectively.
They also found super strength cider, at 7.5 per cent, available for £1.59 – which is 10.6p a unit.
The Core Cities Health Improvement Collaborative was set up earlier this year by the 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) in England's eight largest cities outside London – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
As part of its work to tackle the harm caused by alcohol, it carried out a snapshot poll into the price of budget alcohol available across the UK.
Previous studies carried out elsewhere in the UK had found cider available for around 11p per unit.
Earlier this year, England's chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, called on the Government to introduce a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol.
Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, has since said that a 50p minimum unit price would cut the number of hospital admissions by around 100,000, cut rates of heavy drinking by 10 per cent and reduce underage drinking by seven per cent.
Over the weekend it emerged that an initiative recently announced by the Government to combat underage drinking had been scrapped.
Downing Street admitted that it had dropped plans to give local authorities powers to close pubs and bars which served alcohol to people who repeatedly caused anti-social behaviour.
The Core Cities report coincides with a separate finding, also published today, by Alcohol Concern, which says 90,800 people will die avoidable deaths from alcohol-related causes by 2019.
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by John, Down the Boozer, Bristol
Monday, October 19 2009, 10:23PM
“Jack - Pete said the "equivalent of £6 a pint"... buy 2 bottles at £3.50 odd and it certainly would be nearing the equivalent.”
by derek, In Germany
Monday, October 19 2009, 3:51PM
“Agree with Dean & Will.I today bought a bottle of white wine, cost as UK about one pound.It`s not the price but the clowns who throw any alchohol down their throats as fast as possible!”
by Will, Bristol
Monday, October 19 2009, 1:06PM
“Having lived in Spain for the best part of a year in various locations, I do not believe the UK has a particularly bad alcohol problem. Perhaps maybe we just notice it more.
For example I have very rarely seen brandy being consumed first thing in the morning, in a bar over here.
In the end its personal choice, and indeed some of the worst alcoholics I have ever met have been from Sweden, where it is probably more expensive than anywhere else.
I do agree that pubs should be taxed less on the alcohol they serve, in order to compete with Tesco's, ASDA's etc, rather than go out of business.”
by Al Quay, Portishead
Monday, October 19 2009, 12:35PM
“I live in Portishead, surely that is enough reason to drink to excess as often as possible?”
by Nikita, Bristol
Monday, October 19 2009, 12:34PM
“Oh I see we are blaming the continental shops now are we?
Also I don't see why I should be punished by not being able to buy a cheap bottle if I choose to do so? I can be responsible and not go stir crazy on a nice bottle of wine! People need to take responsiblity for their own actions and stop blaming the government, schools or each other! Take that student who urinated on a war memorial, disgusting behaviour. It's not fair to blame it completely on the cheap drinks or the pub crawl as most of the other students managed to have a good time without causing trouble.”
by craig, emersons green
Monday, October 19 2009, 12:34PM
“Dont have a go at the retailers. They go the extra mile by introducing challenge 21 and now challenge 25 to stop under age sales. The staff will go to court as well as the retailer if they sell to underage people and retailers constantly train their staff to that effect.
Parents should take more responsibility in the education of alcohol of their children, it has always been a disease of Britain and will always be so.”
by paul, bs3
Monday, October 19 2009, 11:49AM
“I agree with the comment about there being too many shops that can sell alcohol. These are were underage drinkers get their alcohol from not supermarkets. Like was mentioned we need specialist off licenses with hefty fines/ bans if these places are caught selling to anyone underage. Or maybe adopt a measure like in the States where it's the person selling the beer that gets fined rather than the establishment. You start fining bar staff £1000 and that'l soon make them check ID”
by Malc P, Durban
Monday, October 19 2009, 11:35AM
“Tomorrow¿s headlines will be ¿Cheap food at supermarkets¿ cause for increase in obese people in Bristol. Expensive book price cause of illiteracy rate to soar. What a load of drivel”
by Ranter, Bristol
Monday, October 19 2009, 10:33AM
“as per Dean
In Europe they go out in mixed groups eat,drink & socialise.
We seem to have an irresistable need to distort our reality, drink/drugs to excess & quickly......why ?
If your life sucks, change it.
If you cant relax, learn to relax.
& if a minimum 50p/unit would reduce heavy drinking by 10%then call it £2 unit.
What has Dierdre Barlow got to do with this.
RMW - are you sure they are discussing rates of alcohol consumption or the unit price of alcohol?
Maybe the true emphasis is on the carnage caused by drinking per se, not harping back to the trouble-free peaceful alcoholiclessness of 10 years ago! - t-i-c”
by RMW, Bristol
Monday, October 19 2009, 9:52AM
“Don't let the facts get in the way of a good headline¿
The British Beer and Pub Association called for anti-alcohol measures to focus on troublemakers rather than making us all drink less.
It said that in the first half of this year, the amount we consume per head went down by more than 8 per cent to 3.81 litres. This is the steepest drop in alcohol consumption since 1948, the BBPA said, when it fell by 11 per cent in a year.
The amount we drink has been falling since a peak in 2004, and if the current trend continues by the end of the year it could drop to the same level we consumed a decade ago.
BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said: "Alcohol consumption is not increasing. It has been on a firm downward trend for several years. When it comes to effective policies to tackle alcohol harm, we need a debate based on the real facts.”