More than two-thirds of beer and wine served in UK pubs and bars is short measured, a survey by Trading Standards suggests.
Officers who visited 77 pubs and bars were served 96 short measures out of 137 orders, meaning approximately 70% were less than the prescribed quantity required by The Weights and Measures Order for pints and half pints and 175ml glasses of wine.
Of the short measures, 41 were under by 5% or more – 29% of the 137 drinks tested.
Some 86% of all beer ordered was short measured, as was 43% of wine.
The average deficit for short-measured beer was 4%, while for wine it was 5%.
For the average beer drinker, this equates to a loss of £1.70 per week, or £88.40 a year, and for an average wine drinker in the UK this jumps to £2.20 per week or £114.40 per year, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said.
For a criminal charge, absolutely, and that’s as it should be. But in lay terms there is a bit of a grey area. I think you can be an overworked bartender who at some level does realise that the pour isn’t 100% up to the line (so the customer won’t be getting the full pint they ordered), but is too busy or distracted or lazy to really give a shit about making it exactly perfect. Who among us would make every burger perfect if we worked fast food? None, but it’s technically illegal in this case. But a punter who’d send a pint back for being less than an ounce under is pretty rare, nobody really cares that much.
I think the real news is that the average pub goer is spending almost three grand a year. Jfc.