Sugary Drinks and Warning Labels
Warning labels may cut sugar-sweetened drink purchases.
An analysis of 23 studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that using warning labels on sugary drinks—a category that includes soda, sports drinks and fruit-flavored drinks—was generally linked to notable reductions in purchases.
That’s important news considering that research hailing from the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University found an almost 20% higher risk of cardiovascular disease in women who consumed one or more sugar-sweetened beverages per day, compared with women who abstained from these sugary drinks or rarely consumed them.
Up next, studying the best ways to design warnings to maximize their impact and, of course, convincing appropriate regulatory bodies that these graphics should be universally implemented, as was the case with cigarettes.
See also: Delicious Danger? A Research Update on Artificial Sweeteners
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
