Using tobacco-like warning labels could reduce meat consumption, improve public health and reduce carbon footprint. This is suggested by a study carried out by a team from the University of Durham (United Kingdom) and published this Wednesday in the journal Appetite.
Jack Hughes, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, indicates that achieving “net zero” (that is, balance between emissions that are expelled into the atmosphere and that are absorbed by natural sinks such as oceans and forests) is “a priority” for the planet.
“As warning labels have already been shown to reduce smoking and the consumption of sugary drinks and alcohol, the use of a warning label on products containing meat could help us achieve this if introduced as national policy,” he adds.
The researchers tested a number of warning labels, including some that alert people to climate, health and pandemic risk. They found that all were effective in deterring people from choosing meaty foods.
All labels, which displayed a graphic image next to the text, reduced meat meal selections by 7% to 10%. However, participants were more in favor of climate warning labels, which they also found more credible.
The study was based on a representative sample of 1,001 carnivorous adults, divided into four groups and who were shown images of hot foods that could be purchased at a food and drink outlet, and that contained a health warning label, a climate warning, a pandemic warning or neither.
They were asked to make 20 separate decisions about different food options and the researchers asked the participants how believable and provocative they found the labels.
Participants were measured on their future intentions to purchase and eat the food options, as well as how attractive they found the foods. They also indicated how much support the different labels would give if they were launched.
"We already know that eating a lot of meat, especially red and processed meat, is bad for your health and contributes to deaths from pollution and climate change. Adding warning labels to meat products could be a way to reduce these health risks and the environment,” concludes Milica Vasiljevic, from the Department of Psychology at Durham University and lead author of the study.
