As Brits flock to pubs and beer gardens this summer, a pub chain has launched a campaign to get drinkers talking about something other than the weather; their bowel health.
Pub chain Big Smoke Brew Co. has launched the “Know Your S**t!” campaign to get people talking about Bowel Cancer, over a pint. Beer mats with tutorials are being provided in pubs as well as free bowel cancer test kits to thousands of pubgoers to help drinkers spot bowel cancer early.
Partnering with at-home self-test provider Newfoundland Diagnostics, the initiative will see beer mats in popular pubs with what has been coined the “Pint Pootorial” – a visual chart that shows various beer options and what a similar bowel movement appearance could mean to your bowel health.
Thousands of free at-home bowel health tests will also be available in the same pubs across London, before the scheme is rolled out across the UK later this year. With results in just five minutes, pubgoers can test for Bowel Cancer signs and have results before they’ve finished their pint.
150 Brits are diagnosed with Bowel Cancer every day, 50,000 each year. It is the country’s fourth most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death. Yet, talking about bowel health is still seen by most as awkward and taboo. Particularly in social settings.
Beer mats can be found in pubs across London from September
The colour of your stool can tell you a lot about your bowel health and the “Pint Pootorial” compares varying stool colours with your favourite pints, including stout, lager, ale and IPA.
Know your poo like you know your pint:
IPA (light in colour and/or Yellow) – Test your stool.
Lighter, yellow coloured stool could be a result of excess fat or caused by issues such as coeliac disease or Crohn’s disease. To be safe a stool test can help rule out potential bowel cancer.
Lager (Orange or Amber) – Test your stool.
Orange poo can be caused by a condition called bile acid diarrhoea, where bile stays in the stool without being reabsorbed. It could also be an early sign of potential bowel cancer so test your stool to be safe.
Ale (Brown) – Healthy.
A chestnut brown stool would suggest a healthy bowel.
Stout (dark red or black) – Test your stool and seek medical advice.
This colouring can be caused by food items such as beetroot or items strong in iron, but it could signal bleeding in the large bowel. You should contact a doctor if your stool is this colour.
Starting this September, beer mats and free tests can be found in pubs across the capital including:
Big Smoke Taphouse & Kitchen, London Gatwick South
Big Smoke Taphouse & Kitchen, Luton Airport
The Globe, Heathrow Terminal 5
The Oceanic, Heathrow Terminal 3
The Antelope, Surbiton
The Flintgate, Weybridge
The Albion, Kingston
The Poyntz Arms, East Molesey
The Red Lion, Thames Ditton
The Bricklayer’s Arms, Hersham
To help raise awareness, Geordie Shore and Ex on the Beach star Zahida Allen is backing the campaign after recently admitting to tragically losing her father to undiagnosed bowel cancer after the lack of testing he received.
For Zahida, the campaign is deeply personal. Her father was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a late stage, and she wishes she had known more about the possible warning signs and the opportunities to check bowel health sooner.
Zahida Allen, former Geordie Shore and Ex on the Beach star, said: “Losing my dad to bowel cancer is something I will always carry with me, and one of the hardest things is knowing that, had I understood the signs and known more things might have been different. I wish I’d been told more about bowel cancer and what to look out for, because early testing really does make a difference. I’m certain if he’d tested earlier my Dad would still be with us.
I want to help make talking about bowel health and testing feel less awkward and more normal, so people feel informed enough to recognise the signs and take action. If this campaign encourages even one person to get checked earlier and potentially saves a life then we have helped.”
Zahida Allen backs the campaign following the loss of her father to bowel cancer
By taking the conversation into pubs, the initiative aims to reach people in a familiar social setting – including those who might otherwise avoid talking about their bowel habits or taking a test.
Michael Hodnett, co-founder of Newfoundland Diagnostics, said: “Poo isn’t exactly the first thing people expect to be discussing when they go to the pub, but that’s what makes this such a good opportunity to get people talking about something that’s genuinely important.
“We’ve taken something people know very well – the colour of their pint – and used it as a way to help them think about something they probably pay much less attention to. If someone looks at one of these mats and thinks, ‘Actually, I don’t know what’s normal for me,’ that’s a really valuable conversation to have.”
The aim is not to diagnose drinkers from the contents of the toilet bowl, but to encourage people to understand what is usual for them, notice persistent changes and seek appropriate medical advice when something does not seem right.
Newfoundland Diagnostics’ at-home Bowel Health tests (£9.99) are designed to detect occult (hidden) blood in stool samples. Blood in stool can be an early sign of bowel cancer or other conditions such as positive or abnormal result is not a cancer diagnosis and may require follow-up with a healthcare professional.
Bowel Cancer Know the Symptoms:
Newfoundland Diagnostics is urging individuals to be vigilant and consult a healthcare professional if they experience any of the following symptoms:
Bleeding from your bottom
Blood in your stool
A change in how often you have a bowel movement, or persistent diarrhoea or constipation
Unexplained weight loss
Ongoing fatigue without clear cause
A pain or lump in your tummy