Calorie Labelling on pre-packaged alcoholic drinks
This project will review calorie labelling on pre-packaged alcoholic drinks to understand how it may influence consumer drinking behaviour.
30 November 2021
Background
There is evidence thatÌýindividualsÌýare unaware of the energy content of alcoholic drinks and that people supportÌýtransparentÌýenergy labelling.ÌýAt presentÌýthere is no legal requirement to provide calorie information on prepacked alcoholic drinks. Around 70% of UK alcohol sales occur in off-trade premises, which includes supermarkets and shops.ÌýIntroducing mandatory calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks has the potential to be used to tackle both obesity and highÌýlevels ofÌýalcohol consumption.ÌýThere remains aÌýlack of evidence that its introduction will influence consumer behaviour.ÌýÌýÌýÌý
Methodology
AÌýrapid literature review will be conductedÌýby colleagues at ICHÌýto gather more information on previous studies exploring the impact of calorie labelling on alcohol consumption.ÌýQuantitative research willÌýthenÌýbe conducted in collaboration with the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research GroupÌý(UCL)Ìýthrough theÌý.
The Alcohol Toolkit Study is a detailed national panel study used to understand population-wide influences on alcohol use through phone interviews with around 1,800 new participants each month.ÌýThe Alcohol Toolkit Study collects information on drinking behaviourÌýandÌýsociodemographic factors.ÌýQuestions on calorie andÌýalcoholÌýunit labelling on pre-packaged alcohol products will be added to the study to explore how they relate to consumers’ drinking behaviours.
Timing
- October 2022
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The NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Weight is part of the NIHR and hosted by UCL.