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Smaller glasses can reduce overall wine consumption, Cambridge University study finds

01 September 2022 By Christian Smith

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge has found that the use of smaller glasses lead to a modest decline in overall wine consumption among adults in the United Kingdom.

The Cambridge University study looked at a total of 260 households in the UK that said they drank wine on a regular basis. The households were randomly given 290ml or 350ml glasses of wine to drink during a four-week period. Of the randomised households, 217 completed the study as per its protocol and were therefore included in its findings.

The study’s researchers found that wine consumption declined by 6.5% when the wine was served in smaller glasses. The researchers also looked at the effect of drinking from half bottles (37.5cl) rather than full-size bottles, with the households spending two weeks drinking from each bottle size.

Wine consumption fell by 3.6% when the 37.5cl bottles were used, a decline researchers considered to be negligible, concluding it was not clear whether bottle size correlated with a reduction in consumption.

While the difference in smaller glass size (290ml rather than 350ml) was described as not “statistically significant”, researchers did note that using “290ml vs. 350ml glasses may reduce consumption”.

Both of the glasses used were of the same design (Royal Leerdam Bouquet).

The results were published in the journal, Addiction, which focuses on the study of addiction.