The study is published in the academic journal, Appetite.

Can Warning Labels on Meat Products Help Achieve Net Zero Goals?

Jack Hughes carried out the research with his supervisors as part of his PhD research at the Department of Psychology at Durham University. He said: “Reaching net zero is a priority for the nation and the planet. As warning labels have already been shown to reduce smoking as well as drinking of sugary drinks and alcohol, using a warning label on meat-containing products could help us achieve this if introduced as national policy.”

A representative sample of 1,001 meat-eating adults were split into four groups which were shown pictures of hot meals you might buy in a canteen which contained either a health warning label, climate warning label, pandemic warning label, or no label.

They were asked to make 20 separate decisions on different meal choices and the team also asked how anxiety provoking and believable they found the labels. Future intentions to buy and eat the meal options, as well as how appealing the meals appeared, was measured. Participants also indicated how supportive they would be of the different labels if they were implemented as policy.

An example set of meals could be a meat pasta bake, fish pasta bake, vegetarian pasta bake and a vegan pasta bake.

Senior author on the paper, Dr Milica Vasiljevic from Durham University’s Department of Psychology said: “We already know that eating a lot of meat, especially red and processed meat, is bad for your health and that it contributes to deaths from pollution and climate change. Adding warning labels to meat products could be one way to reduce these risks to health and the environment.”

Reference :

1. Impact of pictorial warning labels on meat meal selection: A randomized experimental study with UK meat consumers – (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37689371/)

Source: Eurekalert