Christmas Food Shock - CarTakeBack Finds You Can ‘Eat Yourself’ Over The Drink-Drive Limit

Can you ‘eat yourself’ over the drink-drive limit?

The answer is yes. A CarTakeBack.com experiment found you CAN be tipped over the limit by boozy food - if you’ve had one standard glass of wine! 

We tipped ourselves over the UK drink-driving limit with a full Christmas meal consisting of entirely supermarket-bought food. 

Watch what happened here: https://www.cartakeback.com/blog/in-the-know/christmas-food-...

To download a version of this video for your site, you can use this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oj4duxtjzsqrd0v/Christmas%20Food%2...  

A high res version of the menu image can also be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qS1s-ebvPgdDSfS5O5W3eNlxpn... 

Please credit https://www.cartakeback.com with a follow link when you use either the video or high res image.

Quote: 

Rebecca Ashton, IAM RoadSmart Head of Driver Behaviour, said: “When enjoying a Christmas lunch, remember the alcohol content within your delicious meal.  The brandy within that slice of Christmas cake along with everything else could just put you over the limit. Food containing alcohol needs to be carefully considered if you are planning to get behind the wheel. Ultimately, there is no safe level of alcohol in the blood if you intend to drive. The simplest message is none for the road. Plan your night out so you can enjoy yourself and not have any stress about the journey home by pre-booking a taxi. If you have consumed a large amount of alcohol remember you could still be over the limit in the morning so arrange your day carefully.”

Rebecca Currier, spokesperson for CarTakeBack.com, said: “Following our shock survey that found 1 in 5 think it’s OK to drink-drive if they feel unaffected, we wanted to raise awareness about unknowingly drink-driving this Christmas. Most people think all the alcohol is burned off during cooking, but we found that’s clearly not the case. Stay safe over the festive period and pay attention to what you’re eating and drinking before you get behind the wheel.”

FULL PRESS RELEASE

Christmas Food Shock - CarTakeBack Finds You Can ‘Eat Yourself’ Over The Drink-Drive Limit

Press release contact details:

Jo 

jo@evoluted.email

0114 383 0734

You can ‘eat yourself’ over the UK drink-drive limit (0.35mg/l or 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath)

Findings come from CarTakeBack.com, who put together a booze-laden, 3-course Christmas menu.

This consisted of entirely supermarket bought food.

The experiment dispels the myth that alcohol simply burns off when you cook it.

Many of us happily tuck into festive dishes without giving ‘drink-driving’ a second thought.

So this year, CarTakeBack.com decided to conduct a study into whether alcoholic food can push you over the drink-drive limit.

The experiment was conducted by Jo. Her key findings are summarised below:

When Jo has one standard glass of wine on its own, she’s under the drink drive limit.

She wanted to see if she could ‘eat herself’ over the limit with a 3-course meal of supermarket bought food.

Even after the starter and main course Jo registered on the breathalyser (under the limit).

After the Christmas pudding and brandy sauce, with a glass of wine, Jo would be over the UK drink-drive limit.

Without even having any alcoholic beverage, the food alone pushes Jo over the drink-drive limit in Scotland and some European countries.

A Myth Dispelled

The experiment dispels the myth that alcohol simply burns off when you cook it. In many recipes - and supermarket bought food - it’s proven that a lot of alcohol can remain, even after cooking. Not only that, but this amount could actually put you OVER the UK legal driving limit when you have an accompanying alcoholic beverage with your meal. 

The US Department of Agriculture/Food and Nutrition Service researched the percentage of alcohol remaining after a number of cooking methods. Their conclusion was as follows: ‘The assumption that all alcohol is evaporated when heat is applied is not valid. Six alcohol-containing recipes in this study retained from 4% to 85% of the alcohol”.

Findings Follow 2018 YouGov and CarTakeBack Survey

The findings come after a 2018 CarTakeBack.com and YouGov survey revealed that almost 1 in 5 think it’s acceptable to drink-drive - as long as they feel unaffected. With 40 million driving licenses in Great Britain, that could be nearly 7 million drivers.

Be careful this Christmas period before you get behind the wheel. Driving over the limit in the UK can potentially gain you a huge fine, 3 months in prison, and a possible driving ban - and that’s not even the worst-case scenario. If there could be any alcohol in your system, the safest option is to leave your vehicle behind.