'A short measure cheats us all!' More than two-thirds of UK beer and wine short measured

New national research published today by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has found that more than two-thirds of beer and wine, checked by trading standards professionals, is short measured.

The national fieldwork was undertaken by local authorities across the UK.

The largest short measure was a deficit of 15 per cent, found on a 175ml glass of wine in Walsall, with the drink costing £3.20.

The findings come at a time when the price of alcoholic drinks is at an all-time high. According to the Office of National Statistics, the average price of a bottle of red wine has increased eight per cent in the last year, while the average cost of a pint of lager is up 5.6 per cent.

CTSI’s findings show that there is more work to be done in ensuring that customers get what they pay for when they order a pint, or a glass of wine, at British pubs, bars, and other establishments.

The fieldwork saw 96 short measures out of 137 test purchases, meaning approximately 70 per cent of the test purchases were short measured.

Out of the short measures, 41 were at a deficit of five per cent or over – 29 per cent of all the 137 drinks tested.

When broken down between beer and wine, it was noted that 86 per cent of beer was short measured while 43 per cent of wine was found to be short measured.

The average deficit for short-measured beer found in the survey was four per cent, while for wine it was five per cent. For the average beer drinker, this equates to a loss of £1.70 per week, or £88.40 per year, and for an average wine drinker in the UK this jumps to £2.20 per week and £114.40 per year.

New public polling from CTSI also found a generational divide with three times as many people aged under-45 supporting bars and pubs being able to pour spirits without a spirit measure, compared to those over 45.

A short measure means that the beer or wine the customer receives is less than the prescribed quantity required by The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988. These quantities vary depending on the drink served, but include pints, half pints for beer, and 175ml glasses for wine.

In addition to these issues with short measuring, there has been an ongoing discussion around whether a pint of beer should include the frothy head or not. Legally, the head is included, however CTSI’s new public polling found that 35 per cent of 2,000 felt the head should not be included in the pint measure – higher than 23 per cent who believed the head should be included. The Campaign for Real Ale maintains that the pint measure should not include the head, and that consumers should have a right to a 100 per cent liquid pint.

John Herriman, chief executive at CTSI, said: “While this is a snapshot, it is the first time that we have been able to build a national picture of how widespread short measuring of alcoholic drinks are, and the potential detriment to the average consumer of around £115 every year suggests there is the need for more comprehensive research to better understand the impact of short measures, not just for alcoholic drinks but across a broader spectrum of consumer goods. Weights and measures is a key role for Local Authority Trading Standards, but right now we simply don’t have the resources to allocate, and even the equipment to use, to undertake spot checks that ensure consumers are getting what they pay for.

“We are calling on the hospitality sector to ensure that consumers get value for money by making sure they are correctly measuring the drinks they are serving to customers in the nation’s pubs and bars and for further research in this area.”

Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, and CTSI vice president, said: “The cost of living means people can hardly afford a drink. To discover you’re being served short measures adds insult to injury. A short measure cheats us all, but affects those worst off, the hardest.

“Being able to afford to go out for a drink is not easy and you should get what you pay for. In this current climate, it is great to see this campaign from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute raising awareness of the important work of our Trading Standards profession.”

CAMRA National Chairman Nik Antona, who livers in Staffordshire, said: “Consumers shouldn’t have to feel short changed when they support their favourite pubs, social clubs, and taprooms. The idea that 70 per cent of all beer bought at the bar is being short measured in the UK is extremely concerning.

“CAMRA wants the government to make sure pubgoers have a legal right to receive a 100 per cent liquid pint every time they are being served. This latest study is another worrying indication of an issue that has been affecting consumers for a number of years now and should hopefully provide a catalyst for change.

“For anything that is short measured, and particularly anything more than five per cent short, you should ask the bar staff for an immediate top-up. You are well within your rights to do this, and the staff should comply and fulfil this request.

“If you get a negative reaction when you do this, you can get in contact with Trading Standards to report the incident.”

In the first week alone of the 2023 Christmas period, 35.9 million pints were sold in the UK, and if the CTSI findings are replicated across the UK, this would amount to £6.8 million in consumer detriment in only one week. In 2021, the British Beer and Pub Association reported that on-trade sales of beer alone contracted £5.7 billion in revenue, equivalent at the time to 1.4 billion pints per year or 26 million pints per week; with today’s prices, this means a 4% deficit in each pint equates to a huge £264m in potential consumer detriment per year.

This beer and wine research is part of a broader research report that CTSI is publishing later in the year which highlight the importance of Weights & Measures for UK consumers, economy, and wider society.