Alcohol, calories and obesity: A rapid systematic review of consumer knowledge, support and behavioural effects of energy labelling on alcoholic drinks

Robinson, E.; Humphreys, G.; Jones, A.

Mandatory energy (calorie) labelling of alcoholic drinks is a public health measure that could be used to address both alcohol consumption and obesity. We used systematic review methodology to assess evidence from studies examining 1) consumer knowledge of the energy content of alcoholic drinks, 2) public support for energy labelling and 3) experiments examining the effect of energy labelling of alcoholic drinks on consumption behaviour. Levels of evidence level were evaluated using the GRADE approach. Eighteen eligible studies (from 16 sources) were included. Among studies examining consumer knowledge of the energy content of alcoholic drinks (N=8) and support for energy labelling (N=9), there was consistent evidence that people tend to be unaware of the energy content of alcoholic drinks, and were more likely to support than oppose energy labelling of alcoholic drinks. The level of evidence supporting these conclusions was rated as moderate due to the majority of studies being of low methodological quality. Six studies examined the effect of energy labelling on outcome measures related to alcohol drinking. Overall, findings were indicative of no likely effect of energy labelling on outcome measures. However, the majority of studies were of low methodological quality, used proxy outcome measures of alcohol drinking and none of the studies were conducted in real-world settings, so the level of evidence supporting this conclusion was classed as very low. Further research is required to determine whether energy labelling of alcoholic drinks affects consumer behaviour and is likely to be an effective public health policy.