What the Sunday papers said

The influential Commons select committee on health will this week back calls from medical experts for a nationwide ban on smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants in England and Wales. It will urge Patricia Hewitt to bring in a total ban on smoking in public places, while critics claim the proposed partial ban - in pubs serving food and members' clubs - will result in up to 200 people dying from passive smoking. - Sunday Express​

Children's health will be at risk from passive smoking if the government bans smoking in all restaurants and bars, according to a report by economists at University College London. The study concluded that poorer parents, prevented from smoking in bars, tended to smoke more at home. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair is considering a free vote on the smoking issue, a move which would likely lead to the Commons backing a full ban when the bill's third reading is aired next month. - Observer​

It has taken only a year for off-licence chain Unwins to go wrong for venture capitalist outfit DM Private Equity. DM spent £32 acquiring the chain last March. However, problems including a flotation flop and an investigation into allegedly missing funds have bedevilled the group and this week administrators will be appointed to rescue the business. - Mail On Sunday​

"Oh shit". That was the first reaction of Waverley TBS managing director Jeff Jamet on hearing about the fire at the Buncefield oil depot in Hemel Hempstead last week. "We had no injuries, but these are the two most important weeks for us," said Mr Jamet, whose company supplies pubs around the country with wine and spirits and whose offices and warehouses were heavily damaged by the fire. "A nightmare scenario," he continued, "the worst thing that could have happened to us." - Independent On Sunday​

It looks like champagne and costs just as much. But the latest vintage bubbly increasingly hitting restaurant tables is a £32 bottle of beer. Brewed in the Belgian village of Buggenhout, Deus is the most expensive of a new generation of brews aimed at winning over wine connoisseurs and wean drinkers off industrially-produced lagers. Rupert Ponsonby, a spokesman for the Beer Naturally campaign, said drinks like Deus show what is possible and will help change the perception of beer. "It's crazy that a restaurant can have 250 wines and just three beers," he added. Aubergine sommelier Vincenzo Tagliavia said: "We are offering our customers the chance to enjoy and exclusive beer and Deus stands out." However Sunday Times wine critic Joanna Simon said "It's a very good beer but no matter how it's dressed up - and boy, is it dressed up - it's still only a beer." - Sunday Times​

And finally...

A 40 year old mother of three of three increased her alcohol intake ten fold in an experiment filmed for a BBC documentary, 'Mischief: Binge Drinker', to be aired on BBC3 on January 12. Nicky Taylor drank 516 units of alcohol over a four week period and her body fat increased from 37.4 per cent to 38.9 per cent, she put on half a stone in weight and ballooned from a size 12 to a size 14. Most worryingly for Ms Taylor was her skin derioration; she now has the complexion of someone aged 50. Damage to her liver was limited, however. Doctors told her she would have to had continued drinking at the same rate for a further five months to do lasting damage. - Independent On Sunday​