Trial reportAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)2018
No Impact of Calorie or Unit Information on Ad Libitum Alcohol Consumption.
Trial report in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Calorie (energy) labelling for changing selection and consumption of food or alcohol.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Socioeconomic position and the effect of energy labelling on consumer behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Impact of health warning labels and calorie labels on selection and purchasing of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks: A randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Impact on product appeal of labeling wine and beer with (a) lower strength alcohol verbal descriptors and (b) percent alcohol by volume (%ABV): An experimental study.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2018Trial
- Consumers' Attitudes and Preferences Towards Ingredients List, Nutrition Information and Health Warning Labelling on Alcohol Products: A Scoping Review.Current nutrition reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Energy labelling of alcoholic drinks: An important or inconsequential obesity policy?Obesity science & practice · 2023Review
- Article
- Use as directed: do standard drink labels on alcohol containers help consumers drink (ir)responsibly? Real-world evidence from a quasi-experimental study in Yukon, Canada.Drug and alcohol review · 2021Article
- Glass shape influences drinking behaviours in three laboratory experiments.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Impact of glass shape on time taken to drink a soft drink: A laboratory-based experiment.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo investigate the impact of unit and calorie information on drinking behaviour in an ad libitum taste test paradigm.
methodsIn this experimental human laboratory study, participants were randomized to one of four conditions, balanced by gender, using a 2 (unit information: present vs. absent) × 2 (calorie information: present vs. absent) between-subjects design. The percentage of beer consumed during the taste test was the primary outcome measure.
resultsAmong this largely undergraduate student population, we found no evidence that either unit or calorie information impacted alcohol consumption in an ad libitum taste test. A manipulation check indicated that few of the participants receiving either unit and/or calorie information could accurately recall the number of units and/or calories in the beverages provided to them, indicating low levels of engagement with this information. Analysis of qualitative reactions to calorie and unit labelling indicated possible negative unintended consequences of calorie and unit information, including using unit information to facilitate consumption of higher strength beverages, and calorie information to reduce food consumption prior to a drinking episode.
conclusionWe find no evidence to support an effect of unit or calorie information, a public-health initiative supported by the alcohol industry, on drinking behaviour. It is possible that compulsory unit and calorie labelling, at least in the numeric format used here, would have no effect on alcohol intake and may even have some negative unintended consequences among certain populations.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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 OpenQuestion graph.