Warning labels help parents avoid sugary drinks more than calorie labels

Are you aware of the health effects associated withs soda consumption?

The findings of this study suggest that labels could indeed have an effect in reducing the consumption of sugary drinks, so policy makers could take it as an impetus to pass these bills.

More than three-quarters of registered California voters support adding warning labels to sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a statewide Field Poll released on Wednesday, KQED’s “State of Health” reports. The organization recommends Canadians’ total intake of free sugars should not exceed 10 per cent of total daily calorie intake, and ideally less than five per cent.

Lawmakers in NY and California are considering bills to require warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages that are similar to tobacco warnings on cigarette boxes.

The research team designed online surveys in which 2,381 parents chose a beverage they would buy for their child. However, they noted, “if there was a strong social desirability bias, we would expect to also see strong effects from exposure to salient calorie labels, but this did not happen”. The researchers say a label warning such as “consuming beverages with added sugar may contribute to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay” was a factor in whether parents would buy the beverage.

Additionally, 53% of parents who saw the calorie labels said they would choose an SSB.

A roundup of the choices the parents made suggests that health warning labels on sugary drinks could alter consumer choices.

“[Health warning labels] provide an extra layer of information that people can understand”, said David Hammond, lead researcher and professor in the school of public health at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, according to CNN.

The poll found that 78% of registered voters support warning labels for sugary drinks – slightly up from 74% in 2014. The researchers also wrote “most participants reported that a warning label would change their beliefs about a beverage’s healthfulness and that a label would encourage them to purchase fewer of the beverages for their child”.

Significantly, while there were some differences by political party, the parents felt strongly that warning labels were preferable to other solutions to curbing use of sugary drinks, such as taxes or limits on portion size.

Results showed that while the specific text of the health warning labels did not affect a parent’s purchase choice, the presence of the label was significant.

Out of all the parents in the study, 73% said they supported a government policy that required health warning labels on sugary drinks.

“This research is a promising first step but we need to study [labels in other age groups] before a major policy is unveiled that could have unintended negative consequences for particular segments of the population”, Folta said. They were asked to fill out 20 questions and they were showed images of sugary beverages.

“We were surprised that the warning labels had as big an impact as they did”, Roberto tells us.

Another reason why warning labels are seen as a good solution for the problem is that they have worked so far for alcohol and tobacco. However, this could backfire, because teenagers would find it enticing to consume something that is explicitly labeled as bad for them.