A study on the effects of warning labels on liquor bottles, conducted in Whitehorse in 2017, found that many people were prompted to cut back on purchasing labelled products.

“The main thing was that (the labels) had an impact on behaviour –– I really did not expect that,” Tim Stockwell, the study co-lead, told the Star.

The Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria conducted the study in 2017 and 2018.

Labels were placed on alcohol bottles at the Whitehorse liquor store, warning consumers of the negative health effects of alcohol consumption and informing of standard drink guidelines.

The study became controversial when Canadian alcohol industry lobby groups objected to it –– particularly to one label that warned there are links between alcohol and cancer.

After the first month of research, the study was halted and the cancer labels removed.

Two other labels, with standard drink and low-risk drinking guidelines, were on bottles at the Whitehorse liquor store until July 2018.

Approximately 300,000 labels were applied to 98 per cent of alcohol bottles during the study period, according to a report from the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research.

The results of the study were released earlier this week.

An analysis of sales data found that per capita sales of the labelled products dropped by 6.6 per cent, compared to the unlabelled products at the same liquor store.

Study co-lead Erin Hobin, a scientist at Public Health Ontario, found that consumers exposed to the new labels were 10 per cent more likely to recall the link between alcohol and cancer.

Consumers were three times more likely to be aware of low-risk drinking guidelines, and 50 per cent more likely to remember daily low-risk drinking limits.

Stockwell, who is the director of the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research, said the labels were expected to be informative for consumers.

The fact that they also curbed alcohol sales was unexpected.

“I thought it was the consumer’s right to know, I didn’t think it would make a dent in consumer behaviour,” Stockwell said.

“I was surprised to see a significant reduction in sales for labelled products.”

Stockwell atttributes a few factors to the study’s success in curbing alcohol sales.

First, the size and colouring of the label on the alcohol bottles are relevant, he said. In the United States, liquor bottles have had small, black and white labels since 1989.

“(Those labels) are not terribly effective; people notice them briefly, and then they merge into the background.”

The labels designed for this study were red and yellow, and their visibility likely had an impact, Stockwell observed.

“Why is it so effective? The other reason is, the heavier you drink, the more often you see this message,” Stockwell said.

“And finally, there’s a symbolic significance of the absence of a warning label.

“People think if there’s a serious risk of anything, the government will surely warn us, especially when they are responsible for selling and distributing it.”

Stockwell noted that it has been 40 years since the World Health Organization identified alcohol as a class one carcinogen causing cancer. Stockwell said consumers deserve to have that risk clearly communicated.

“It’s only a matter of time before people demand that information (as) the health effects of alcohol are getting increased attention,” Stockwell said.

“Nothing’s for certain, but I think it’s provided with more ammunition.”

The introduction of the labels in a real-world liquor store made the study unique, Stockwell said.

The study was conducted in partnership with the territorial government and Yukon Liquor Corp.

John Streicker, the minister responsible for the corporation, said Thursday it was happy to take part in the research.

“When this study came along, we thought that would be great, because it would give us a chance to understand,” Streicker said.

“We have a limited budget to focus on social responsibility, and here was a chance.”

Streicker said the results of the study clarify that labels are effective, and show there’s room to adjust what is presented on the labels.

The minister told the Star the Yukon’s small population brings the risk of alcohol abuse to the forefront.

“In a small jurisdiction like the Yukon, there is no way you can ignore the harms when people over-consume,” Streicker said.

“The importance is to make sure that you are addressing where alcohol goes wrong for us as a society and working hard to shore up against that. I think here in the Yukon, those lines are clearer.”

The concept of social responsibility in managing the liquor corporation is important, Streicker said. The new Liquor Act, which came into force in 2019, worked with health professionals to ensure that lens was implemented.

“It was kind of impressive to me that everybody agreed we needed to make sure social responsibility was a pillar of the new act,” Streicker said.

When the powerful alcohol industry’s lobbyists worked to pause the study and decry the labels, Streicker said, he tried to bring the conversation of risk transparency to a national level.

“I think the research, now, gives us the opportunity to open that question again with provincial and territorial jurisdictions,” Streicker said.

At the time, Streicker told media that he worried the government would face years of litigation if it continued to use the cancer labels, with legal action carrying a hefty price tag the territory couldn’t afford.

The halt of the study made headlines across the country, with articles appearing in the Toronto Star and New York Times.

According to Stockwell, the heavy media attention stirred was ultimately beneficial to the research’s impact.

“It’s a funny thing, but actually, the opposition and the fuss gave us a head of steam; it motivated us,” Stockwell said.

“It motivated people to support us and it increased the interest people have in this work.”

Bottle labelling has a lengthy history in the Yukon.

In the late 1980s, under the guidance of Margaret Commodore, an NDP health minister, labels were affixed to bottles reminding pregnant women of the risks of consuming alcohol.