Meat products: will cigarette-style warnings on their packs help reduce their sales?

New research has revealed that gruesome cigarette-style warnings on meat products might make meat buyers think and avoid purchasing meat. Are these shame-inducing stickers likely to come to the USA markets?

Meat products, adverse health effects and buyer behavior

Innumerable studies have revealed that meat and meat products are detrimental to health if eaten frequently or in excessive amounts. Eating meat has been linked to colon cancer, constipation, poor gut health, obesity, metabolic diseases, heart diseases, etc.

Government and law makers of different countries worldwide are trying to adopt measures that will see buyers opt less for meat foods. They want to improve buyer awareness about risks with high meat eating.

The policy makers and health experts want people to choose more of plant based foods and avoid ultra processed foods. That will help improve overall health of people, reduce early deaths and minimize health care budgets.

The new study from the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

A research team from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands conducted a survey on shoppers asking them whether shame-inducing stickers on the meat foods would make them reduce purchasing them.

And the team reached the conclusion that such a gruesome label on these obesity causing and cancer causing foods would definitely help in reducing their sales. The team states:

“Adding a sticker to a meat package, warning potential customers about the negative consequences of their purchase, may be an effective way to influence buyers’ behavior.”

Will this type of labeling come to the USA?

USA and meat labeling

The USA animal rights activists and vegans are already crying their lungs out to stop animal cruelty and switch to plant based eating. They want people to not kill animals for food or clothing or leather. Instead they want them to go vegan and stop even consumption of eggs, milk, and honey.

And this new study will really excite these animal lovers. They have urged government to cease the inhumane factory farming and environmental degradation. Stopping meat consumption would help these and reduce carbon footprints and global warming.

But there are some people who are against this sort of warnings on meat foods. Dietitian Diana Rodgers is not for this labeling. She said:

“High-income countries are already trending down in meat consumption,”

“We are seeing iron deficiency and meat is the best source [of iron]. We need to curb ultra-processed foods, not healthy proteins like meat.”

She adds that meat provides essential nutrients that plants cannot give. And these proteins are good for brain development of kids.

Canadian government was slammed recently when it tried to put such labels on meat foods. They had to how down after the backlash from meat eaters. They said:

“Meat has been a staple of the human diet for millennia. The problem is processed food made in factories with refined ingredients,”

Read here: Barbecuing meat: how to reduce cancer risk?

Whether USA would see a similar reaction is not certain. But definitely there would be a lot of tussle and debates and arguments there for sure.