As municipalities have taxed sugar-sweetened beverages and schools and worksites have banned their sales, university researchers have found that simple warning labels on such beverages in a college cafeteria helped students reduce their reported consumption of drinks by 14.5 percent.
As municipalities have taxed sugar-sweetened beverages and schools and worksites have banned their sales, university researchers have found that simple warning labels on such beverages in a college cafeteria helped students reduce their reported consumption of drinks by 14.5 percent. The results signal that such labels could reduce sugar consumption in larger settings.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major driver of chronic disease. Health warning labels may reduce the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, but the effectiveness of such labels in real-world settings is only beginning to be established,” said Jennifer Falbe, assistant professor of Nutrition and Human Development at UC Davis, who is a senior author of the study and designed the warning label used. “This experiment takes the evidence a step further by looking at young adult behavior in a setting that they frequent each day,” she said. The study was conducted by the University of Michigan School of Public Health and UC Davis.
Taking a cue from tobacco control efforts, researchers placed warning labels on beverage dispensers at a University of Michigan cafeteria for one semester in 2019. In language based on previous proposed California legislation, the bright yellow labels with a large triangle and exclamation mark state:
“Warning: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay.” Two other cafeterias on campus — located geographically distant from the cafeteria with the labels — served as control sites, and displayed no warning labels.
Read more at University of California - Davis
Image: Warning label used at University of Michigan (Credit: Jennifer Falbe)
