Low-alcohol adverts ‘encourage drinking’

LOW-ALCOHOL beer and wine promotions risk fuelling daytime drinking, a new study by Cambridge University suggests.

A review of Britain’s four largest supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – also found advertising strategies may be increasing overall alcohol intake.

The retailers’ websites tended to downplay the products’ low-alcohol content in favour of ambiguous phrases such as “lunchtime treats”, “perfect for all occasions” and “to refresh thirsty sportsmen and women”.

Published in the journal BMC Public Health, the study found the messaging may encourage consumers to use lowstrength beer and wine as a replacement for soft drinks at times such as lunch, rather than as a replacement for normal-strength alcohol.

It also showed that marketing for weaker-strength wines and beers was more likely to include text or images associated with health, information about calorie and carbohydrate content, and images of fruit.

The research involved 86 web pages marketing 41 lower-strength wines and 48 web pages marketing 16 lower -strength beers. These were defined as containing less than 8.5 per cent for wine and 2.8 per cent for beer.

“Our findings suggest that products containing less alcohol than regularstrength wines and beers may be being marketed to replace soft drinks rather than products with higher alcohol content,” said Dr Milica Vasiljevic, who took part in the research.

“Marketing lower-strength alcohol wine and beer as being healthier than

‘Products with less alcohol than regular wines and beers may be being marketed to replace soft drinks’

regular-strength products and suitable for all occasions may paradoxically encourage greater alcohol consumption.”

Six years ago, 34 leading wine and beer producers agreed to reduce the alcohol content of many popular brands by 2015 under the Responsibility Deal.

The initiative was promoted by Andrew Lansley, the then health secretary, as a means of helping people drink more sensibly.

It followed increasing demand for low-alcohol drinks by members of the public.