Small price changes and point-of-purchase labeling may have big effects on consumers beverage choices, according to an experiment in the cafeteria of a large financial institution. Boosting the cost of sweetened drinks by just one cent per ounce and labeling those with more than 150 calories as High Calorie reduced sales by 16% during a three-month span. Sales of non-caloric beverages jumped 26% over the same period among the 900 daily customers at the cafeteria. The findings by Harvard Medical School researchers were presented at Obesity Week, jointly sponsored by The Obesity Society and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
