Pubs should serve more non-alcoholic beers on tap to ‘nudge’ Brits into drinking less booze, scientists say

Making non-alcoholic beer more widely available on tap encourages people to make healthier choices, a study suggests.

Customers bought less standard beer but replaced it with non-alcoholic varieties, with no reduction in overall bar revenue.

Alcohol can lead to weight gain and addiction and has been linked to seven types of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, upper throat, larynx, esophagus, breast and bowel. .

Offering alcohol-free options is often considered a good alternative for people who want to be healthier.

For the study, researchers from the University of Bristol, working with Bristol City Council, recruited 14 pubs and bars across the city.

None of the establishments had previously offered non-alcoholic draft beer on tap.

Pubs and bars completed two intervention periods and two ‘control’ periods in random order over eight weeks.

The intervention consisted of replacing an alcoholic draft beer with an alcohol-free beer. The study control period proceeded as usual.

The analysis found that when a non-alcoholic option was available, pubs and bars sold on average 29 liters less alcoholic beer per week, which equated to 51 fewer pints and a 5 per cent reduction in sales. sales.

However, this has been replaced by an equivalent increase in sales of non-alcoholic beer, suggesting customers are choosing the healthier option.

Additionally, there was no impact on the money taken, suggesting the change did not make pubs and bars worse off.

The team, writing in the journal Addiction, concluded: “The introduction of non-alcoholic draft beer to bars and pubs in England reduced the volume of alcoholic draft beer sold by 4-5%, with no evidence of the net impact of the intervention. income.’

Dr Angela Attwood, associate professor at the university’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said: “Although alcohol-free options have been available in pubs and bars for some time, they have not not the same visual prominence as alcoholic beverages and are rarely served. draft.

“Our study showed that offering non-alcoholic options on tap at the bar could encourage some customers to ditch alcoholic drinks.

“This does not restrict consumer choice; in fact, it increases the options available to the customer and could at the same time reduce the population’s alcohol consumption levels and improve public health.

Ivo Vlaev, professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School, said “the study highlights the power of nudges to shape healthier societal choices.”

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He added: “By simply making non-alcoholic beer more visible and accessible – essentially changing the architecture of choices in bars and pubs – the research exploits fundamental human biases in favor of easier, more visible options. “

A spokesperson for the World Cancer Research Fund said it was “encouraging to see that making alcohol-free beer more visible to consumers led them to make a healthier choice by choosing the option alcohol-free”.

However, he added: “Just like alcoholic drinks, the sugar and calories of non-alcoholic options can vary.

“That’s why it’s better for your health to opt for smaller sizes. So, rather than a pint, choose a bottle or have a half pint.”

Matt Lambert, chief executive of the Portman Group, the industry-funded regulator for alcohol labeling, said: “We welcome the results of this study which highlight the importance of establishments voluntarily increasing the availability of low- or no-alcohol alternatives and to standardize these products.

“It also reinforces our own research which shows that these products are an essential tool to help people moderate their alcohol consumption and reduce the wider harms of alcohol, such as excessive drinking and Drunk Driving.”

It comes as researchers from the University of York said there is not yet enough data on consumer behavior around no- or low-alcohol drinks to say they are a healthy alternative to alcohol.

Professor Victoria Wells, from the university’s School of Business and Society, said: “Although the no- and low-alcohol drinks industry is booming in terms of sales, we know very little about about how, when and in what ways it is chosen by and used by consumers.

“If we really want to promote it as a product that can help reduce the number of serious diseases, such as alcoholism and obesity, and more generally improve healthy drinking habits, we need data that prove and a more formal statement strategy on how these drinks are marketed to consumers to ensure they are enjoyed in the right way.