Partnerships between public health agencies and industries which trade in potentially harmful products or activities – such as the recently announced and much criticised partnership between Public Health England (PHE) and the alcohol industry-funded body, Drinkaware – risk delaying or preventing effective policies to improve population health, say public health scientists Mark Petticrew, Martin McKee and Theresa Marteau in their Lancet Comment, published online on September 20th 2018. The authors say that such partnerships with industry promote voluntary models of harm reduction which are largely ineffective and are likely to benefit the relevant industries rather than improving the health of the nation. They conclude by recommending that PHE should work with the public health community to redefine its relationships with industry.

Professor Dame Theresa Marteau is Director of the (BHRU) at the University of Cambridge.

Partnerships with the alcohol industry: furthering industry interests at the expense of public health. Petticrew M, Marteau TM, McKee M. Lancet.

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The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of lower strength alcohol labelling on consumption.

We found that the total amount of wine and beer consumed increased as the label on the drink denoted successively lower alcohol strength. Individual differences in drinking patterns and socio-demographic indicators did not affect these results.

Impact of lower strength alcohol labeling on consumption: A randomized controlled trial. Vasiljevic M, Couturier DL, Frings D, Moss AC, Albery IP, Marteau TM, 2018

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Our study compared the main marketing messages conveyed by retailers and producers for low/er and regular strength wine and beer products in the UK.

We found that compared with regular strength wines and beers, low/er strength products were more often marketed in association with occasions deemed to be suitable for their consumption including lunchtimes, outdoor events/barbeques, or on sports and fitness occasions.

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Alcohol consumption in England has increased over time, particularly for wine. In a previous study, we found that wine sales in a bar and restaurant increased by almost 10% when wine was served in a larger glass (Pechey et al., 2016 and Pechey et al., 2017). In our new study, published in the BMJ Christmas issue, we examined whether wine glasses in England have increased in size over time, one of several possible influences upon increasing wine consumption in England. To continue reading about our findings click on the Read More button.

Wine glass size in England from 1700 to 2017: A measure of our time. Zupan, Z., Evans, A., Couturier, D.L., Marteau, T.M.

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In this study we found that verbal descriptors of lower strength wine and beer formed two clusters and effectively communicated reduced alcohol content. The verbal descriptors Low, Lower, Light, Lighter, and Reduced formed a cluster and were rated as denoting lower strength products than Regular, but higher strength than the cluster with intensifiers consisting of Extra Low, Super Low, Extra Light and Super Light. To find out further information about this study click on the Read More button.

Impact of low alcohol verbal descriptors on perceived strength: An experimental study. Vasiljevic M, Couturier D-L, & Marteau TM, 2017

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