MP repeats call for smaller wine glasses
MP Greg Mulholland has written to the health secretary urging him to back calls to force pubs to sell wine in 125ml glasses.
Lib Dem health spokesman Mulholland, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, believes the move to bigger glasses has had an impact on binge drinking.
Last month he proposed an amendment to weights and measures legislation to force pubs to offer the 125ml measure and not just 175ml and 250ml.
He has now written to health secretary Alan Johnson urging him to back his proposals.
Mulholland believes that many operators made a "deliberate policy decision" to only sell the bigger sizes.
"The reality is that people often do trade up and I am concerned about the impact of this practice on drinking habits, particularly for women.
"At a time when binge drinking and increased alcohol consumption is a serious issue in Britain, I feel that it is of particular importance to highlight this matter, and the impact of this practice on individual's perceptions of their own alcohol consumption.
"Many people are unaware of how many units there are per alcoholic drink, particularly the larger glasses of wine; despite the fact that the guidelines for alcohol consumption, (in terms of how many glasses of wine represent a given number of units of alcohol) assume a 125ml volume, many people think in terms of how many glasses of wine they have had to drink, rather than specific volumes.
"Clearly this can be very subjective."
