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I read (or possibly heard on Radio 4) something about this the other day.
Apparently, when the Government-appointed committee of medical experts were investigating what the recommended alcohol consumption limits should be, they discovered that there hadn't actually been any research done into the matter.
The Government wasn't prepared to fund the years of studies it would take to determine the facts, so the committee just came up with some figures on which they could reach a consensus - based purely on their own vague guesses and opinions - and handed those in.
The Government has, ever since, been telling us that these are the correct figures recommended by their scientific advisors. But the figures were just made up by a committee which had been set an impossible task, and presumably wanted to get home in time for dinner.
So the only sensible thing is to treat those figures as meaningless garbage - they have no scientific validity whatsoever.
Last edited by NickFitz; 22 January 2008, 15:53.
Reason: sp.
half a pint of beer
one small glass of wine
one shot of spirits
Not any more.
When the Government definition of "a unit of alcohol" was created, beer tended to be around 3.5% - 3.8% ABV; now it's more likely to be 4.3% - 5%.
Similarly, wine back then was usually about 9% - 10%, whereas now it's unlikely to be less than 12%. Also, a "small glass" now has a larger volume than a "small glass" then.
And spirits were 40%, whereas now they're usually 37.5% - but served in a measure that is about half as big again as it was back then.
But as the "safe amount" figures are meaningless anyway, it doesn't really matter that the units are also invalid.
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