Government launches 10m alcohol units campaign

Published: 23 July, 2008

A government-funded 10 million alcohol awareness campaign has shown over three-quarters of UK drinkers don't know how many units are in a glass of wine.

The 'Units' campaign, which was launched today by health minister Dawn Primarolo, will run via a series of adverts on TV, radio, billboards and in the press.

A YouGov poll discovered that while 82% of English drinkers claim to know what a unit of alcohol is, 77% were unaware a large glass of wine contains 3 units.

Some 6m is sidelined for the 'Units' drive in 2008/09 with a further 4m earmarked for a Home Office binge-drinking campaign in June.

Primarolo said: "Glass sizes have grown larger and the strength of many wines and beers has increased, so it's no wonder some of us have lost track of our alcohol consumption.

"This campaign is all about helping people understand how many units are in their favourite drinks, and helping them to keep an eye on their intake for the good of their long-term health."

Over a third (35%) of people polled did not know an average pint of beer (ABV 4%) contains two units.

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