Scots drinking on empty stomachs

Published on Saturday 21 March 2009 18:34

IT'S long been the advice of seasoned drinkers. Rightly or wrongly, Scots for generations have been told to line their stomachs before taking a dram. We haven't, however, being paying attention, at least according to the latest research.

New figures yesterday revealed that Scots down a far smaller proportion of their annual intake of drink with their meals than their English neighbours.

In fact, the average Scot went through just 58% of his or her total consumption of alcohol at dinner last year, down from 67% in 2005 and well below a comparable figure of 75% in England.

Wine and spirits industry leaders last night said the figures, from market research firm TNS Worldpanel, showed that the English were far more influenced than the Scots by what they regard as a healthier continental attitude to alcohol.

The French, Spaniards and Italians traditionally sit down to dinner with a glass of wine while northern Europeans, the stereotype goes, prefer to binge on an empty stomach.

The new figures were yesterday latched on to by the industry figures lobbying against the Scottish Government's proposed crackdown on how alcohol is sold. The SNP administration, among other proposals, including minimum prices, wants to end what it believes are "irresponsible" cross promotions of drink and food, which many health experts believe are luring Scots into buying drink they didn't set out to purchase. The drinks industry counters that the offers are exactly what is needed – to promote continental-style wining and dining.

Supermarket Morrisons led the charge against the SNP ban on cross promotions. "A combined Government and industry campaign to communicate that a good way to drink responsibly is to consume alcohol with a main meal could be an effective way of driving behavioural change," the retail giant said.

Jeremy Beadles, the chief executive of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, an industry lobby, yesterday challenged evidence from doctors and researchers that suggests people are more likely to drink more because of supermarket offers of alcohol with food. "Do we really think somebody who has a problem with alcohol is more likely to give up drinking if they aren't allowed to buy a meal deal with wine?"

He said he believed that selling drink and food together helped to "normalise sensible drinking rather than demonise alcohol".

Evelyn Gillan, the chief executive of medical group Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, last night scoffed at the use of the word "normalise". She countered: "The whole point is that alcohol is not a normal product as the industry wish to portray it. It is a psychoactive potentially addictive substance, which, according to the Royal Society, ranks third among dangerous drugs behind heroin and cocaine.

"Alcohol consumption has leapt up over the last 30 or so years as licensing laws were liberalised and availability increased. We would challenge the very idea that alcohol is a ordinary product."

Health campaigners across the globe have applauded the Scottish Government crackdown on cross and other promotions and its championing of minimum pricing, with Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer in England and Wales, proposing a similar scheme last week.

Gillan and other health campaigners believe too many Scots are being lured into buying alcohol they hadn't intended to purchase by multibuy or food and wine offers in supermarkets. Scotland's per-capita consumption of pure alcohol has now topped 11 litres a year, the eighth-highest figure in the world.

Peter Anderson, a former GP and alcohol policy advisor to the World Health Organisation and the European Commission, yesterday said: "The Scottish Government is doing what other countries want to do but don't have the courage to do."

Scotland on Sunday's wine critic, Will Lyons, last night came out in forthright support of a glass of wine with dinner – but attacked gassy, high-strength products that have replaced traditional weaker British beverages. "I detest drinking without food much in the same way that I detest eating without wine," he said. "Of course it is true that it is perfectly possible to drink any form of alcohol without food but it's rather like watching your favourite film without sound.

"Wine in particular is transformed by food and similarly wine has the same effect on food as a spice does. Acids, tannins and sugars all interact with food to provide different taste sensations. Match these with the right dish and the transformation can be incredible"