Research in Action: How Dr. Erin Hobin’s Research is Helping People Make Informed and Safer Alcohol Decisions
Research in Action
11 July 2024
Dr. Erin Hobin, PHO senior scientist, leads a research program on alcohol container labels that generates evidence she hopes will lead to Canadians being provided with clear, evidence-informed messages about the health risks of alcohol – to better support people in making informed and safer alcohol decisions.
Recently, she was featured in a New York Times article on alcohol labelling, as several jurisdictions around the world, including Alaska, Australia, Ireland, and Thailand, have begun adopting health warning labels on alcohol containers.
Her research has contributed to national and international conversations on the efficacy of alcohol container labels, particularly the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study completed in the Yukon – the first real-world evaluation of alcohol warning labels in Canada. Dr. Hobin’s recent research has been cited in international recommendations for alcohol labelling CODEX statements. Some of her studies have also played a significant role in informing and shaping food labeling practices and policies in Canada.
Last month, Dr. Hobin, along with colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the University of Victoria, is the senior author of a systematic review published in The Lancet Public Health on the effects of alcohol container labels on alcohol consumption behavior, knowledge, and support.
This new publication is the result of the world’s first comprehensive systematic review of alcohol labels. The findings emphasize the effectiveness of alcohol container labels as a mechanism in reducing alcohol use.
“Canada is a world leader in designing effective tobacco and cannabis warning labels, yet alcohol containers are largely exempt from these label measures. There is an opportunity to strengthen alcohol labelling in Canada,” says Dr. Hobin, adding that the absence of health labels on alcohol products limits the ability of consumers to understand the health risks. “Labels are a unique information-based intervention in that consumers are repeatedly exposed to important health information at key points of contact – when purchasing, pouring or consuming the product.”
We spoke to Dr. Hobin and discussed her interest in health promotion and the potential impact of her research.
Q: You delivered a keynote last month at a Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction Roundtable. What was the focus of your keynote?
A: I was asked to provide an update on the evidence related to the impacts of alcohol warning labels; to discuss labelling policies, practices, and opportunities in Canada and internationally; and, to discuss evidence-informed approaches that can raise public awareness of the health impacts of alcohol in the absence of mandatory alcohol labels in Canada. Public awareness of alcohol health risks is low and evidence shows that as the public becomes more informed, they are more likely to support stronger alcohol control approaches.
Q: What initially sparked your interest in health promotion and alcohol research?
A: Alcohol use is prevalent and causes significant health and social harms in Canada. When I started working in the area of alcohol policy research 10 or so years ago, there was very little research on alcohol warning labels. Yet, a large well-established evidence base indicating that tobacco warning labels can increase consumer knowledge of health risks, shift societal perceptions of product risks, and even change population behaviours. This made me very curious about if and how alcohol labels could be strengthened to better support consumers in making more informed and safer alcohol decisions. However, it was challenging to get policy, practice, and research partners to take notice of this idea.
Over time, things are slowly changing. The release of Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health in January 2023 started a national conversation on alcohol and health in Canada. These conversations are important for shifting public thinking from alcohol being a relatively benign substance to a substance with serious, inherent health risks that warrants interventions aimed at minimizing harms.
Q: What are some key highlights from your alcohol labelling research?
A: The most significant point in my career so far was planning and executing the labelling study in Yukon in 2017. In partnership with the Yukon Government and the Yukon Chief Medical Officer of Health at the time, Dr. Brendan Hanley, my colleague Dr. Tim Stockwell and our research team, planned, implemented, and completed the first real-world quasi-experimental study testing alcohol labels designed according to best practices for effective labels.
It was an incredible experience and was exciting thinking about the importance and impact of the work for advancing alcohol labelling evidence. However, it was also stressful. We were not expecting the international attention the study received and the strong response from the alcohol industry. Nevertheless, the study was completed, thanks to the commitment of our partners in Yukon. We published 11 academic papers from the study and have shared the results in dozens of conference presentations, invited talks, and media interviews in Canada and internationally, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and The Globe and Mail.
Over the past couple of years I participated as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committees for the 2023 Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health’s annual report on substance use health, Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, and the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group on Alcohol Labelling.
Q: Looking ahead, do you have any upcoming projects or initiatives that you're particularly excited about?
A: In collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, I am the senior author on a systematic review published in The Lancet Public Health that assesses the effects of alcohol warning labels on alcohol use behaviours, knowledge of label messages, and support for labels. The most notable results from the review suggest that alcohol container labels with health warnings or rotating health and safety messages may reduce individual- and population-level alcohol use.
I recently conducted a small pilot study funded by the Canadian Cancer Society to test new methods to further advance the labelling research and am now planning a full-scale real-world experimental study with alcohol consumers across Canada.
Learn more about Dr. Hobin’s research in The Lancet Public Health and explore previous coverage of her work in the media outlets below:
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