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Variation
The strength of various types of beverage alcohol varies significantly. Even within a given sector, there is considerable variation across different beverages. In addition, many drinks are mixed with so-called soft drinks or water. In order to make measurement as uniform as possible, the convention for standardizing drinks agreed upon is grams of absolute ethanol. This measure is a scientifically useful one and is also used in research. What it means in practice, is that a “standard” drink will always contain a given amount of absolute ethanol, regardless of whether it is beer, wine or distilled spirits.
Governments of countries around the world provide official definitions of “standard” drinks or units.
A number of governments around the world have issued formal definitions of “standard” drinks or units.
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For public health purposes, standard definitions are intended to assist in determining levels of alcohol consumption.
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For commercial purposes, standard drink definitions are intended to offer guidance with regard to serving and packaging sizes.
Definitions of standards drinks often reflect the local drinking culture and traditional measures used. In general, official definitions are found in developed countries.
International definitions of “standard” drinks or units vary significantly in size and alcohol content.
Standardized drink measures are generally presented in terms of grams of pure ethanol, but there is considerable variation across official definitions. For example:
|
Standard drink / unit size
(grams of ethanol) |
Country |
|
8 |
United Kingdom |
|
9.9 |
Netherlands |
|
10 |
Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Spain |
|
11 |
Finland |
|
12 |
Denmark, France, Italy, South Africa |
|
13.6 |
Canada |
|
14 |
Portugal, United States |
|
19.75 |
Japan |
(For a chart of international drinking guidleines that includes standard drinks, click here.)
Research definitions of “standard” drinks also vary.
Different researchers may use different definitions of standard drinks. The definitions used include:
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official government-issued definitions in a particular country,
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other definitions derived from different sources.
The different “standards” currently used in research can range from 8 to 28 grams, making comparisons across studies difficult.
Drinks are often not served in “standard” sizes.
Much of the beverage alcohol consumed is drunk in non-commercial settings, such as private homes or other venues where sizes of glasses or amounts served may vary.
In the case of non-commercial, traditional beverage alcohol, the strength of a beverage may not be known, and consumption may take place from communal drinking vessels making it hard to estimate how much alcohol is consumed. |