Cambridge University Professor Theresa Marteau and her colleagues approached hundreds of pubs, bars and restaurants and asked them to remove the pint serving size and instead offer two-thirds of a pint as the largest ale option for four weeks, with four-week non-intervention periods before and after as a comparison.
The team said that although customers did not complain, fewer than one per cent of the venues approached agreed to participate and, in the end, only 13 establishments took part.
The researchers found that removing the pint reduced the daily mean volume of beer, lager and cider sold by 9.7%.
But there was a 7.2% in the amount of wine purchased, with one pub contributing to half of the increase in wine sales.
However, overall alcohol consumption was still reduced in the participating venues during the period of the experiment.
Marteau said: “Removing the offer of pints in 13 licensed premises for four weeks reduced the volume of beer sold.
“This is in keeping with the emerging literature showing that smaller serving sizes help us drink less and presents a novel way of reducing alcohol consumption and improving population health.
“Reducing alcohol consumption is a global public health priority.”
Marteau, director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, added: “Further assessment is needed, particularly into whether people fully compensated for reduced beer consumption by drinking other alcoholic drinks.
“But the intervention merits consideration for inclusion in alcohol control policies.
“Smaller serving sizes could contribute towards reducing alcohol consumption across populations and thereby decrease the risk of seven cancers and other diseases.”
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