An Observer feature focusing on the damage done by super strength lagers and white ciders claims 'Super-strength alcohol is killing more homeless people than crack or heroin'.
The feature comes as a leading homeless charity continue to warn against the damage caused by such drinks. It follows an article by Thames Reach Chief Executive Jeremy Swain in the current Big Issue in which he writes:
"The rise of the super-strength drinks is a relatively recent
phenomenon. When I was a street outreach worker in the 1980s, they were
virtually unknown..."
"Of course, alcoholism among the homeless is hardly new. But what is different is the speed of the deterioration caused by the super-strength drinks. Consuming them is akin to pushing the fast forward on your life."
Thames Reach are calling for the government to act by introducing a minimum price for alcohol. A spokesperson noted the danger of drinks such as White Ace cider which is ‘cheaper than lemonade’, and congratulated the drinks company Heineken for withdrawing White Lightening cider from sale. The brand had reportedly been nick-named 'white frightening' for its claimed tendency to induce paranoia.
The Observer feature also explores how white cider is made, usually with "dry apple pulp left behind when the juice has been pressed out of it and this is usually fed to animals or used for making pectin" a cider expert wrote. "Other large manufacturers use apple concentrate from abroad and get most of the alcohol from the addition of glucose or corn syrup."
See our report last year on What awaits the white cider market as White lightning de-listed and tax rises loom?
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