Glass of wine ‘as risky as 3 vodkas’

Drinking a large glass of wine is as potentially harmful as downing three shots of vodka, a senior British health official has said.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, warned that liver disease is a “silent killer” and now accounts for 500% more deaths among working age people than in the 1970s.

He said: “It is the third biggest killer of working age adults after ischaemic heart disease and self-harm.

“And it is a silent killer, with 75% of people with cirrhosis only being diagnosed once they are admitted to hospital.

“Liver disease is largely preventable with the three big risk factors being alcohol — for example, a large glass of wine is like three shots of vodka, so it is very easy for people to pour a glass and have no idea how much they are drinking — obesity and viral hepatitis.”

A 250ml glass of wine with an alcohol volume of 12.5% contains three units, according to the NHS, while one small single shot of vodka with a volume of 40% is the equivalent of one unit.

Last week experts published a blueprint for tackling the problem of liver disease in the UK called The Lancet Commission on Liver Disease

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