How many standard drinks are in that glass?
How many standard drinks are in that glass? Know Your Limit
Wellington, November 12
The campaign ‘Know Your Limit: Rule of Thumb’ being led by Hospitality New Zealand has highlighted how few New Zealanders actually know what a standard drink is. Drinking responsibly hinges around an understanding of this crucial measure however.
“That’s why we’re investing in a coordinated programme of activity to improve people’s knowledge about what a standard drink is and how to drink sociably,” said Tomorrow Project Chair, Jenny Cameron.
The Tomorrow
Project is a drinks industry social change initiative whose
aim is to create a safe and sociable drinking culture by
providing facts and tools drinkers need to make smarter
drinking choices. The consumer brand of The Tomorrow
Project is called Cheers!
( “The recent change to the drink driving limit
has prompted more conversations around how many drinks it
takes to stay under the limit. “The safest option is
still to not drink and drive, but it is possible to have a
sociable drink and stay within the legal limit for those
that choose to do so,” Jenny says. The Know Your Limit:
Rule of Thumb campaign helps provide clarity for those
wanting to know more. Developed with the Institute of
Environmental Science and Research (ESR), it explains how
many drinks the typical adult can have to stay within the
law (3 standard drinks over 2 hours of men, 2 standard
drinks over 2 hours of women).
Cheers! is supporting
the campaign by explaining what a Standard Drink is – the
single best tool to help people know precisely how much
alcohol they’re actually drinking, how their body
processes it and how long it will take. “One of the
keys to the Hospitality NZ campaign is knowing what a
standard drink looks like so we’ve pulled together the
right information in an online, easy to understand tool for
knowing how many standard drinks are in your glass,” Jenny
says. “A standard drink is based on 10grams of alcohol
which is how much alcohol is takes your body to process in
an hour. “The Cheers! message is simple 1 = 1. One
standard drink takes your body one hour to process. And
it’s the same amount for everyone, whether you’re big,
little, man, or woman. “You can’t speed this process
up, and your body can only deal with one drink at a time.
So, if you have three standard drinks, it will take three
hours for your body to process them. “Most importantly,
a standard drink is less than people think, and it’s often
less than most bars pour. So keeping track isn’t as
simple as counting your drinks. But once you know how to
judge a standard drink, it’s easy to keep track,
irrespective of the glass or serve size.” For an
interactive calculator to find out how many standard drinks
are in your glass go to: http://www.cheers.org.nz/standard-drinks/ ENDS