Hospital Consultant Hits Out at Supermarkets Over Alcohol Sales

By Barry Nelson

A LEADING North-East hospital consultant has described as “criminal” the fact supermarkets are selling alcohol for as little as 11 pence a unit.

Dr Christopher Record, a consultant gastro-enterologist at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, criticised stores for selling cheap alcohol as a loss-leader at a time when hospital admissions caused by excessive drinking were spiralling.

The specialist said he was seeing more patients in their 20s and 30s suffering from the effects of excessive drinking, including some who died within weeks of being admitted because of liver damage.

He warned that cultural changes, which meant that younger people continued to drink heavily into their 20s and 30s, was storing up immense health problems for the future.

“What is happening is causing problems which are going to get progressively worse every year as long as it continues. If people change their behaviour, we could stop this, ” said Dr Record.

The North-East has the highest number of people needing emergency treatment as a result of drinking, while the number of people in the region who have died from chronic liver disease has almost doubled in the past ten years. In 1996, 211 people died from chronic liver disease in the North-East, a figure which had increased to 387 by 2006.

Yorkshire and the Humber saw an even bigger rise in deaths in the same period, increasing from 303 to 608.

“Sainsbury’s were selling drinks at 11 pence per unit in January, which means that you can drink three units, the safe limit for daily consumption for men, for the price of a packet of crisps, ” said Dr Record, who five years ago handed a petition in to 10 Downing Street signed by 600 gastro-enterologists calling for health warnings to be placed on bottles and cans of alcohol.

“There is a direct link between price and consumption. Alcohol consumption has gone up 50 per cent in the past 25 years, while the affordability has increased by 50 per cent.

“We need to make alcohol more expensive and it is the off- licence trade that needs to be targeted.

We would like to see the shops put a minimum price of 30 pence per unit on alcoholic drinks, ” the consultant added.

Dr Record said the Government’s recent round of tax rises on drinks penalised the pubs while supermarkets could absorb the costs by charging customers more for other products.

“I am not against the increase in taxation, but supermarkets are not passing it on to the customers. They are charging us more for loaves of bread and vegetables and selling alcohol cheap as loss leaders. It is criminal.”

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s countered Dr Record’s allegations.

She said: “Sainsbury’s was the first retailer to adopt the new Department of Health Guidelines on Alcohol Labelling, introduced in January 2007.

“We led the industry by publishing the units of alcohol per glass or bottle on all our ownlabel beers, wines and spirits over seven years ago, allowing our customers to make an informed choice.

“As a responsible retailer we recognise that we have a role to play in promoting responsible drinking.”

(c) 2008 Northern Echo. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.