Drinking Behaviour: An Approach to Develop a Realistic Erosion-Testing Regime

Objective:  To assess human normal drinking behaviour to develop a realistic erosion testing regime by means of an observational study conducted upon human volunteers. 

Method: 81 participants, 48 males and 33 females, attended 4 experimental settings “pizza and soft drink parties” that were held in the same venue at 24˚C. The choice of soft drinks available represented previously assessed preferences of participants. Standard selections of pizzas were served and supplies of drinks at 4˚C were made continuously available. Throughout the experiment a music video was played to foster a casual atmosphere and social interaction amongst the participants. No time limit for the activity was imposed. Video footage was recorded throughout the experiment. This was analysed for each participant to yield drink sip count, timing, pattern, calculated sip volume and consumption rate.  In addition, all participants were asked to expectorate, into graduated cups, their first and second sips. Instantaneously, temperatures and expectorated volumes were measured.  Independent-samples t-test was used to compare means. 

Result: * Mean expectorated volume value for females was significantly less than males (19.1±8.2 ml and 14.8±6.9 ml respectively) (P<0.05). Although female expectorated sip temperature change was higher compared to males (11.1˚C versus 10.7˚C respectively) this was not significantly different (P>0.05). Both calculated sip volume and consumption rate were lower for females (15.1±5.5 ml and 11.8±5.0 ml/min respectively); compared with males (18.0±5.9 ml and 14.4±6.4 ml/min respectively). Only sip volume was significantly different (P<0.05). The average consumption per person was 654.9±348.8 ml over a mean period of 44.2±17.4 minutes. 

Conclusion: Several human drinking behaviour values were reported in this study and will be utilized to develop a realistic erosion-testing gender-dependent regime.

*Results are represented as (mean±SD).