Published 16 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4287
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4287

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Supermarket chains warn that minimum pricing of alcohol will not stop binge drinking

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Any national policy that introduces minimum pricing of alcohol in the United Kingdom will not prevent binge drinking, supermarket giants told MPs on 15 October.

The concept of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol is not a "silver bullet" to solve the problem of excessive alcohol consumption, they told MPs on the parliamentary health select committee as part of its inquiry into alcohol.

MPs asked witnesses representing Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose their opinion of introducing a minimum price for alcohol, something that the MPs say could curb heavy drinking and so ease pressure on the NHS.

The idea of a minimum price for alcohol was examined in a study carried out by the University of Sheffield last year. It found that setting a minimum price of 50 pence (0.55; $0.82) a unit could save 3400 deaths a year (BMJ 2009;338:b2007, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2007).

England’s chief medical . . . [Full text of this article]

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