ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2018
Informing drinkers: Can current UK alcohol labels be improved?
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Calorie (energy) labelling for changing selection and consumption of food or alcohol.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled 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
- Warning labels on alcoholic beverage containers: a pilot randomized experiment among young adults in Mexico.BMC public health · 2023Trial
- Effect of alcohol label designs with different pictorial representations of alcohol content and health warnings on knowledge and understanding of low-risk drinking guidelines: a randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Examining the Impact of Alcohol Labels on Awareness and Knowledge of National Drinking Guidelines: A Real-World Study in Yukon, Canada.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2020Trial
- Testing Alcohol Labels as a Tool to Communicate Cancer Risk to Drinkers: A Real-World Quasi-Experimental Study.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2020Trial
- Consumers' Attitudes and Preferences Towards Ingredients List, Nutrition Information and Health Warning Labelling on Alcohol Products: A Scoping Review.Current nutrition reports · 2026Article
- New Alcohol Warnings Outperform the Current U.S. Warning in a National Survey Experiment.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- The Way Calories Are Displayed on Restaurant Menus May Not Affect Calorie Intake: Evidence from an Online Experiment.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Effect of alcohol health warning labels on knowledge related to the ill effects of alcohol on cancer risk and their public perceptions in 14 European countries: an online survey experiment.The Lancet. Public health · 2024Article
- The effectiveness of alcohol label information for increasing knowledge and awareness: a rapid evidence review.BMC public health · 2023Review
- Factors associated with public awareness of the relationship between alcohol use and breast cancer risk.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Alcohol Health Warning Labels: A Rapid Review with Action Recommendations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Health information and warnings on alcohol packaging in Ireland: it is time to progress the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018.Irish journal of medical science · 2022Article
- Adults who use e-cigarettes have difficulty understanding nicotine concentrations presented as mg/ml and percent nicotine.Addictive behaviors · 2021Article
- 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
- Awareness of product-related information, health messages and warnings on alcohol packaging among adolescents: a cross-sectional survey in the United Kingdom.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2020Article
- Baseline Assessment of Alcohol-Related Knowledge of and Support for Alcohol Warning Labels Among Alcohol Consumers in Northern Canada and Associations With Key Sociodemographic Characteristics.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlcohol labeling provides a relatively low-cost, population-level approach to providing information about alcohol's content and harms.
methodWe conducted an online between-subjects experiment with two tasks to examine the impact of alcohol labels (n = 1884). In one task, participants were randomized to view one of four different unit labels (including labels currently used by the alcohol industry and novel labels which provide more information about how the number of units relates to recommended drinking guidelines). We assessed participants' accuracy of estimating weekly serving limits of alcohol. In a second task, participants were randomized to view one of eight health warnings (which varied according to message content, specificity, and framing). We assessed the motivation to quit after viewing the health warning.
resultsAccuracy of estimating weekly serving limits of alcohol was greater for participants who viewed novel unit labels compared to the industry standard labels. Motivation to drink less was higher amongst participants who had viewed both cancer and negatively framed messages, compared to mental health and positively framed messages.
conclusionExisting unit labels used by the alcohol industry can be improved; the inclusion of unit information per serving and how these relate to low-risk drinking guidelines may be important for facilitating consumer understanding. Health warning labels should be included alongside units to provide consumers with information about the harms associated with alcohol and discourage riskier drinking behavior.
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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.