Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32515697›Full record

SynthesisHealth psychology review2021

Impact of health warning labels on selection and consumption of food and alcohol products: systematic review with meta-analysis.

Natasha Clarke, Emily Pechey, Daina Kosīte, Laura M König, Eleni Mantzari, Anna K M Blackwell, Theresa M Marteau, Gareth J Hollands

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Health psychology review, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07422922 (A Longitudinal, Randomized-Controlled Experiment of Healthy Food Policies in Online Retail Settings), which is not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
46citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07422922 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

A Longitudinal, Randomized-Controlled Experiment of Healthy Food Policies in Online Retail Settings

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of PennsylvaniaRan2026 to 2028Enrolled300ConditionsChronic DiseaseArmsSuite of healthy food policies
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. How pictorial warnings change parents' purchases of sugar-sweetened beverage for their children: mechanisms of impact.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023
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  20. Alcohol and Cancer Messaging: A Scoping Review.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Natasha ClarkeBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2375-4510
Emily PecheyBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2288-2652
Daina KosīteBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Laura M KönigPsychological Assessment & Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3655-8842
Eleni MantzariBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3147-5079
Anna K M BlackwellTobacco and Alcohol Research Group, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4984-1818
Theresa M MarteauBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3025-1129
Gareth J HollandsBehaviour and Health Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0492-3924

Funding

Wellcome Trust 206853/Z/17/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Health warning labels (HWLs) could reduce harmful consumption of food (including non-alcoholic drinks) and alcoholic drinks. A systematic review with meta-analysis using Cochrane methods was conducted to assess the impact on selection (including hypothetical selection) or consumption of food or alcoholic drink products displaying image-and-text (sometimes termed 'pictorial') and text-only HWLs. Fourteen randomised controlled trials were included, three for alcohol, eleven for food. For the primary outcomes, eleven studies measured selection and one measured consumption (two measured only other secondary outcomes). Meta-analysis of twelve comparisons from nine studies (n=12,635) found HWLs reduced selection of the targeted product compared with no HWL (RR=0.74 (95%CI 0.68-0.80)), with participants 26% less likely to choose a product displaying a HWL. A planned subgroup analysis suggested a larger (although not statistically significant) effect on selection of image-and-text HWLs (RR=0.65 (95%CI 0.54-0.80)) than text-only HWLs (RR=0.79 (95%CI 0.74-0.85)). These findings suggest significant potential for HWLs to reduce selection of food and alcoholic drinks, but all experimental studies to date were conducted in laboratory or online settings with outcomes assessed immediately after a single exposure. Studies in field and naturalistic laboratory settings are needed to estimate the potential effects of food and alcohol HWLs.

Indexed as

Alcoholic BeveragesHumansalcoholfoodHealth warning labelsmeta-analysissugar sweetened beveragessystematic review

Identifiers

PMID32515697
PMCPMC8635708

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.