'Tipple guide' for social drinkers

It appears in a media blitz aimed at showing social drinkers the key figures they need to keep an eye on the number of units in their drinks.

Some people could be putting their health at risk as some tipples contain more than double the units of others and the size of drink measures are on the increase, according to the Health Department campaign.

So while relaxing with the odd drink at home or with friends the social drinker may be surprised to find there are three units of alcohol in a single large glass of white wine. This could make a woman hit her recommended daily guideline amount of regularly drinking two to three units daily or the recommended three to four units for a man.

In the future such details could appear on beer mats and posters in pubs and clubs but for now the message - alcohol, know your limits - is being pushed home through poster, radio and television adverts. These adverts are not aimed at under 25-year-old binge-drinkers, who are set to be tackled in a £4 million campaign launching in June.

This year, £6 million is being spent on the units campaign. It comes as new figures, released by the Health Department, reveal that English drinkers do not know how much they are drinking.

A YouGov poll of the 1,429 English adults found that 82% claim to know that a unit of alcohol is yet 77% did not know how many units were in a typical large glass of wine.

Researchers found that 35% did not know that the average pint of beer contains two units while 58% did not know that a double gin and tonic contains two units.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Glass sizes have grown larger and the strength of many wines and beers has increased so it is no wonder some of us have lost track of our alcohol consumption."

Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said: "It is important that people are aware of how much alcohol their drinks contain and the associated links to health harm."