alcohol in nutrition

8/13/2019 Alcohol in Nutrition

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Proc. Nutr. SOC.1972), 1, 7 77PROCEEDI NGS OF TH E NU TR I TI ON S OCIETY

Th e Tw o Hundred and Fortieth S cientific Meeting was held in the Edward LewisLecture Theatre, The Middlesex Hospital Medical School, Cleveland Street, London,on 3 December 1971.

S YM POS I UM ON ALCOHOL I N NUTRI TI ONAlcohol consumption in its different forms

By FRANCISYLWARD,epartment of Food Science, University of ReadingMuch of our current scientific thinking on alcohol has its foundations in scientific

advances in the last century. With the emergence of organic chemistry, ethylalcohol was given its name (now ethanol) and formula and became a central pointin the study of carbon compounds. Parallel investigations by Pasteur, on the natureof micro-organisms and their activities in wine-making and brewing, laid the basisof modern microbiology and, in providing explanations for age-old practices,prepared the way for the scientific control of fermentations. Simultaneous advancesin human physiology led to investigations on the absorption and metabolism ofalcohol, the first stages in the biochemical, pharmacological and nutritional experi-mentation to be considered in later parts of this symposium.

Long before these nineteenth century discoveries, there was a voluminousliterature on the art and science of fermentation, for it has been the subject ofresearch by the historians of the ancient civilizations of Iran and the Near East, ofEgypt and North Africa, and of Greece and Rome. The production and use ofalcohol goes back to prehistory; archaeological records reveal the widespread use ofalcohol from different sources and in different forms. Greek writers distinguishedbetween three sources of fermented beverages based respectively on honey (togive mead), cereals (to give beer) and the grape for wine. Later (about the fifthcentury A.D.), references began to appear to other sources, notably the apple togive cider), the pear (for Perry) and other fruits (Singer, Holmyard Hall, 1954).

The products described in the classical literature or archaeological records of theMediterranean world were derived direct from fermentation. Distillation awaitedthe rise of chemistry by way of the Arabian alchemists. Although crude stills wereknown in the first century A.D., it appears that improvements leading to the distilla-tion of alcohol did not occur until about A.D. 1100 Singer, Holmyard, HallWilliams, 1956). This discovery led to the production of a wide variety of distilledspirits to supplement the older fermented beverages; it led also to the productionof a third group of beverages, namely wines (or similar products) fortified by theaddition of alcohol.

It may be noted that some foods, and especially yeast-fermented products,contain small quantities of alcohol (Kent-Jones Amos, 1957).31 2) I


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8 SYMPOSIUMROCEEDINGS I972Fermented beverages

The vine The cul t ivat ion of the grape and the a r t of wine-making spread fromAsia M ino r westward with G reek civilization and colonization. U nd er th e Rom ans,the legions spread th e vine to Spain , France and England and to Germany, Austriaand Hun gary. T h e boun daries of vi ticul ture were set in large measu re by cl imaticand in particular by tem pe ratu re conditions, for the vine will no t flourish inregions which are too ho t such as par ts of E gyp t) or too cold (as in nor thern E urope) .T h e vine, with th e olive and th e wheat grain, became sym bolic of the R oman way oflife and of th e civilization and dietary patter n of western Eu ro pe L a Blache, 1944;Sorre , 195I ) .

Table I iWain wine-producing countries(Rounded figures for 1969)

Country hl* jannumItaly 71 ooFrance j o 000Spain 5USSR 25 ooo

Country hl*/annumArgentina I 8 000Algeria 8 700USA 8 500Portugal 8 300

*I hl- IOO 1-zz imperial gallons-z6~4 LiS gallons.Table I lists some of the main wine-producing countries at the present time;

Ita ly, France, and the Ib erian Peninsula are the largest prod ucers Lichine, 1967;Johnson, 1971).

Other Eu ropean countr ies not inc luded in Tab le I have imp ortan t wine industries,an d outside Eur op e the vine has become well established in S ou th America notablyin the Argentine, Urugu ay and Chile), in the Un ited States of America especiallyin California) and in Canada, Australia and South Africa. In Worth Africa, Algeriarank s as sixth in world production.

Cereals. T h e tradit ional E uropean beers are mad e from ferm entat ion of maltedspro uted or ge rm inated) barley an d other cereals. Beer has become a national

or regional beverage, and breweries play an imp ortan t part i n the national economyin many countries. Over the past two centuries breweries have spread to the USAand Canada, Australia and other countries in which people from northern andcentral Europe have settled. Beer production on the European model is well estab-lished also in m any of th e cap itals an d othe r cities of dfr ica a nd Asia .

There are many different types of beers depending on the grains used, the addi-tion of materials such as hops, th e sources of water a nd yeasts, an d on local brewingpractices. U p to com paratively recen t times wine-making and brewing were carriedou t on a do mestic or village basis as offshoots of agriculture. Although wine-makingis still largely practised on a local basis, brewing i n m any coun tries over the last IOOyears has become mo re centralized in its operations as well as in its finance. I n p artsof Africa and on other continents also, local beers made on a domestic scale fromlocal cereals such as millet are a normal par t of the dietary pat tern P lat t W ebb,1946).


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Vol. 31 Alcohol in nutr t on 9Honey. M ead, one of the oldest drinks known to man, was produced in quan ti ty

in Russia and o ther countries aroun d th e Baltic and in England. Its use has declined,in part because of the availability of cereals as an alternative and cheaper rawmaterial for alcohol produ ction an d in par t because of preferences for distilled sp irits.

Apples and pears, Som e form of c ider from apples (or perry from pears) is madein ma ny cou ntries; in E urop e cider has been regarded up to recently as a beverageof particular regions, for example in the Basque area of France and Spain, inNor man dy or in western England.

Otherfruits. A wide variety of other fruits are used in different parts of Europeon a dom estic, an d som etimes on a commercial, scale to give fruit wines. I n somedistricts local production is important as the basis for dist i l led products . In theM iddle East, dates are used as a source of wine.

Other sources. There are very few regions of the world without some form oflocal fermented beverage obtained from an indigenous raw material ranging frommilk in parts of the Caucasus, to palm wines in North Africa and the cactus plantin M exico.

Distilled beveragesFor some centuries after the discovery of distillation, the process was confined

largely to the laboratories of the apothecaries and to the monasteries; from thesetwo locations came several of th e beverages well kno wn today. Initially, spir its weremade by the distillation of wine or in nor thern E uro pe from beer, bu t the disti llerylater was detached fro m th e brewery Singer et al. 1956). Fro m the sixteenth cen-tury onwards knowledge of distil lation spread rapidly throughout Europe and theworld to become t he basis of bo th illicit an d public activities which have pro-found ly affected dietary and social ha bits an d national economies Lucia, 1963).

T a b l e z l ists some of the many types of spirits classified in terms of the carbo-hyd rate sources. T o th i s list may b e adde d various fortified wines e.g. port) whichare important i tems of international comm erce Lichine, 1967).

Consumption patternsWine T a b l e 3 shows selected European countries in order of their an nual wine

consumption per head and gives also the comparative figures for beer and spirits.T h e f irst group of countries is headed by Portugal, Italy and Fra nce with a con-sumption of over IOO l /head). T h e second gro up consumption 10-50 1) includescountries to the east of France. T h e thir d grou p with a consumption of less th an1 0 1) covers northern Europe, including Great Britain 2.9 1).

Outside Europe, th ree countries of S ou th America, namely Argentina, C hileand Uru gu ay, have high annual wine consumptions respectively 87, 49 and 25 1).T h e USA, Canada, Australia, N ew Z ealand an d S ou th Africa give annual con-sumption figures between 3 and 10 1.

Beer. Beer produc t ion and consumpt ion in Europe is highest in the regionstretching from Germ any, Belgium, Denm ark to England Ta ble 3 ) and inCzechoslovakia 135 1 per head).


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80 SYMPOSIUMROCEEDINGSTable 2 Some sources of distilled alcoholic liquors

Sourcesmaize, rye) or potatoesCereals (such as barley,

Sugar-cane or molassesApples (or cider)

Grape (or wine)

(Grape skins)Other fruits*

Some other sources*CactusRiceCoconutDatesWater-melonMilk

Some productsWhiskyWhiskeyVodkaGinGeneverSchnappsRumCane-spiritCalvadosEau de vie de cidreApple-jackCognacBrandyo u z oVinjanGrappaAlcools blancsWasserKirsch (from cherries)Slivovitz (from plums)

TequilaArdkArakArakKislavSkhou

Some producing areasScotland, North AmericaIrelandUSSR, PolandUK, North AmericaNetherlandsGermanyWest IndiesSouth AfricaFrance (Calvados)France (northern)USAFranceMany countriesGreece and Middle EastJugoslaviaItalyFranceGermanyAustriaJugoslavia

MexicoAsiaAsia, AfricaMiddie EastLSSRCaucasus*These sources may be used in preparation of wines or the equivalent, as well as for production ofdistilled liquors.

Table 3. Annual consumptim of alcohol in some western and northern Europeancountries Anonymous, I 971c )(l/head of population)

SpiritsWine as Beer as as 1007;Group consumed consumed alcohol

More than 50 1wine:Portugal 1 1 5 4 0.5Italy 1 15 I 2 1 7Spain 62 38 2.84Switzerland 41 77 2 12West Germany 7 I39 2.97Belgium I4 140 1 32

France I 1 2 41 2.310-jo wine:

Less than 10 wine :Sweden 6.4 58 2.65Dcnmark 5'9 I08 1.27Netherlands 5 1 57 2.04Great Britain 2.9 101 0.91Norway 2 3 37 1.56

Totalas ~ oo /balcohol16I41712

I 11 27'2

5 96.85 . 66.43.6


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Vol. 31 Alcohol in nutrition 81Spirits. High figures for consum ption of spir i ts are found amo ng both wine- and

beer-drinking countries. I n Fr ance an d sou thern Eu rope, the figures refer primari lyto some form of brand y; in G ermany and no r thern Europe , whisky and vodka orsome other grain distil late are more normal. European figures not l isted in Table 3include the USSR 7 .4 1 Poland 3.2 1) and Jugoslavia 3-0 1 . Correspondingfigures for the U SA snd C anada are 2.87 and 2 41 1.

Local and regional variations. T h e national statistics quote d cover man y differenttypes of beverages which vary widely in their con tent of alcohol an d other compo-nents. T h e figures for total alcohol consu mp tion therefore involve the use of a varietyof factors. As averages they disguise not only differences between individuals andfamilies and between social classes, but also regional differences which within anyone country may reflect climatic zones or older ethnic, religious or politicalboundaries. I n exam ining th e physiological effects of alcoholic beverages it isimp ortan t to know wh ether o r not th e beverage is taken as part of a meal or divorcedfrom food. T he re are wide variations in national p atterns, for example in France o rItaly wine is accepted as a norm al part of a meal.

Variatio ns in compositions. The non-alcoholic components of alcoholic beveragesare important for many reasons. They may be grouped under four headings: I )materials from th e fru i t , grain or other carb ohydrate source; 2 ) materials derivedfrom supplementary ingredients such as hops in beer, and addit ives in wine-making 3 ) prod ucts of malting an d ferm entation including yeast com pon ents4) products of heat treatme nt, oxidation an d storage including co mp onen ts derived

from storage cham bers or vessels.The quan t i t y and na tu re of these ingredients vary with the process used andaccording to changing practices over the years. All groups cover a vast range of

chemical substances, often present in minute amounts, which contribute to thecharacteristics of the wine or beer and to personal reactions and preferences.G roups I , 2 and 4 include colouring and flavouring materials such as tannins andessential oils. Group 3 may b e a source of nutrients , such as members of the vi taminB complex, as in older English beers Dr um m on d Wilbraham , 1958), African beersPla t t Webb, 1946) and the Mexican pulq ue Aylward, 1953).

Distilled liqu ors also con tain non-alcoholic com ponen ts, in particular, volatilesderived from th e original ingredients or from addit ives such as the junip er in ginproduct ion) and pro ducts formed durin g storage and ageing. T h e comp onents wil lvary depending on whether the t radi t ional pot s t i l l is used or the more moderncon tinuo us still . Accurate contro l of distil lation is essential to reduce to the mini-m um th e higher alcohols tha t are formed , along with ethanol, du ring fermentations,and which may occur in excessive quantities in c rud e distil lates.

Changing patterns of consumptionT im e does not perm it any detailed consideration of m any factors which have led

to changing patterns of alcohol consump tion in this an d other countries. T h e ini tia ldiscovery of distillation was, of course, crucial in prod uci ng change. T h e work ofPasteur leading to the control of fermentation and organized yeast production,


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82 SYMPOSIUMROCEEDINGS I972followed by other discoveries suc h as C offeys con tinuo us stil l, was a p relu de tointensive scientific research and technical innovation in more recent years.

Changes in alcohol consumption in Britain have not risen from any single causeor followed any one route. Among the factors that can be identified over the agesare wars a nd political alliances responsible fo r th e English interest in t he w ines ofSpain and Portugal and la ter in the aqua-vi tae of the Nether lands . Import dut ieshave played a pa rt because fro m th e earliest t im es alcohol has attracted C hancellorsof the Exchequer or their equivalents. Religious, temperance and other socialmovements have exercised an influence over the past two centuries. Taxation andregulations have also contributed to change together with improvements in generalstandards of living.

I n th e period 1950-70 there has been an increase in the annu al consump tion ofalcohol per head in the U K : beer from 85 to IOI imported wines from 0.78 to2.88 1 and spiri ts in term s of pur e a lcohol) from 0 .52 to 0.91 1. I n add it ion the rehas been an increase of approximately 50 in th e con sum ption of British winesto a 1970 figure of 0.85 1 Anonymous, 197oa,b, 1971a,b,c). These increases arisefrom changing social s t ructures and social s tandards accompanied by the growthof advertising, the restructuring of the home around the te levision set , and theexpansion of tourism. T h e most s t r iking change is in wine consum ption and thishas been paralleled by th e re-establishment of vineyards a nd a remarkable develop-ment in home-wine produc t ion. T h e legions f rom th e M edi terranean first introducedwine to Britain; the legions from Britain who in their millions have explored inrecen t years the islands and coasts of th e M editerra nean have made som e con tributio nto th e re turn of the vine.

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