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Research Overview

Dr. Grummon is a behavioral scientist studying nutrition policies such as warning labels, beverage taxes, and food assistance programs. Her research mission is to promote the thoughtful design and implementation of interventions that improve diet, prevent disease, and advance health equity for children and their families. Her work uses randomized trials, quasi-experiments, and simulation modeling.

Food and Beverage Labels

Policymakers worldwide have proposed or adopted policies requiring warning labels on unhealthy foods and beverages. Dr. Grummon's research has uncovered promising strategies for how to design food and beverage warnings so that they capture our attention and help us make healthier choices. Her work has also evaluated the extent to which warnings change what consumers buy, and whether warning label policies are likely to improve outcomes like obesity prevalence. Dr. Grummon has also evaluated the effects of federally mandated menu calorie labels on food and beverage purchases.

*Indicates mentored student or trainee.

  1. Petimar, J., Grummon, A.H., Zhang, F., Gortmaker, S.L., Moran, A.J., Polacsek, M., Rimm, E.B., Roberto, C.A., Rao, A., Cleveland, L.P., Simon, D.S., Franckle, R.L., Till, S., Greene, J., & Block, J.P. (2022). Changes in calories purchased after calorie labeling of prepared foods in a large supermarket chain. JAMA Internal Medicine, online ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.3065

  2. Hall, M.G., Grummon, A.H., Higgins, I.C.A., Lazard, A.J., Prestemon, C.E., Avendaño, M.I., & Taillie, L.S. (2022). The impact of pictorial health warnings on purchases of sugary drinks for children: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS Medicine, 19(2): e1003885. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003885

  3. Taillie, L.S., Prestemon, C., Hall, M.G., Grummon, A.H., Vesely, A., & Jaacks, L.M. (2022) Developing health and environmental warning messages about red meat: An online experiment. PLOS One, 17(6): e0268121. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268121

  4. Grummon, A.H., Reimold, A.E.*, & Hall, M.G. (2021). Impact of San Francisco, CA’s sugar-sweetened beverage health warning on consumer reactions: Implications for equity from a randomized experiment. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, online ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.07.008. 

  5. Taillie, L.S., Chauvenet, C., Grummon, A.H., Hall, M.G., Waterlander, W., Prestemon, C.E., & Jaacks, L.M. (2021). Testing front-of-package warnings to discourage red meat consumption: A randomized experiment with US meat consumers. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 18(1): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01178-9.

  6. Hall, M.G., Lazard, A.J., Grummon, A.H., Higgins, I.C.A., Bercholz, M., Richter, A.P.C., & Taillie, L.S. (2021). Designing warnings for sugary drinks: A randomized experiment with Latino and non-Latino parents. Preventive Medicine, 148: 106562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106562.

  7. Grummon, A.H., Goodman, D.*, Jaacks, L.M., Taillie, L.S., Chauvenet, C.A., Salvia, M.G.*, & Rimm, E.B. (2021). Awareness of and reactions to health and environmental harms of red meat among parents in the United States. Public Health Nutrition, online ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980021003098.

  8. Carl, A.E., Taillie, L.S., Grummon, A.H., Lazard, A.J., Higgins, I., Sheldon, J.M., & Hall, M.G. (2021). Awareness of and reactions to the health harms of sugary drinks: An online study of U.S. parents. Appetite, 164: 105234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105234.

  9. Hall, M.G.§ & Grummon, A.H.§ (2020). Nutrient warnings on unhealthy foods. JAMA, 324(16): 1609-1610. §Joint first authors. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.18941. 

  10. Grummon, A.H. & Hall, M.G. (2020). Sugary drink warnings: A meta-analysis of experimental studies. PLOS Medicine, 17(5): e1003120. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003120. 

  11. Grummon, A.H. & Brewer, N.T. (2020). Health warnings and beverage purchase behavior: Mediators of impact. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 54(9): 691-702. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaaa011.

  12. Grummon, A.H., Hall, M.G., Block, J.P., Bleich, S.N., Rimm, E.B., Taillie, L.S., & Barnhill, A. (2020). Ethical considerations for food and beverage warnings. Physiology and Behavior, 222: 112930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112930.

  13. Hall M.G., Grummon A.H., Lazard A.J., Maynard O.M., & Taillie L.S. (2020). Reactions to graphic and text health warnings for cigarettes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and alcohol: An online randomized experiment of US adults. Preventive Medicine, 137: 106120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106120.

  14. Hall, M.G., Lazard, A.J., Grummon, A.H., Mendel, J.R., and Taillie, L.S. (2020). The impact of front-of-package claims, fruit images, and health warnings on consumers’ perceptions of sugar-sweetened fruit drinks: Three randomized experiments. Preventive Medicine, 132: 105998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.105998. 

  15. Grummon, A.H., Taillie, L.S., Golden, S.D., Hall, M.G., Ranney, L.M, & Brewer, N.T. (2019). Sugar-sweetened beverage health warnings and purchases: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(5): 601-610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.019. 

  16. Grummon, A.H., Smith, N.R., Frerichs, L., Golden, S.D., Taillie, L.S., & Brewer, N.T. 2019. Health warnings on sugar-sweetened beverages: Simulation of impacts on diet and obesity among U.S. adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(6):765-774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.022.

  17. Hall, M.G., Grummon, A.H., Maynard, O.M., Kameny, M.R., Jenson, D., & Popkin, B.M. (2019). Causal language in health warning labels and US adults’ perception: A randomized experiment. American Journal of Public Health, 109(10): 1429-1433. https://doi.org/10.2105/ AJPH.2019.30522.

  18. Grummon, A.H., Hall, M.G., Taillie, L.S., & Brewer, NT. (2019). How should sugar-sweetened beverage health warnings be designed? A randomized experiment. Preventive Medicine, 121: 158-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.02.010.

Beverage Taxes and Other Pricing Policies

Dr. Grummon's work also evaluates policies to increase the cost of unhealthy foods and beverages, for example through taxes and minimum price laws. Dr. Grummon and colleagues have used simulation modeling to estimate that a simple change to the design of sugary drink taxes – taxing sugar content instead of beverage volume – would increase the public health and economic benefits of these taxes by 30%. Dr. Grummon has also contributed to evaluations of the Berkeley, California excise tax on sugary drinks, the nation's first such tax. In recent work, she collaborated with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania to assess how Philadelphia's beverage tax affects consumers' food and beverage purchases. This analysis found that consumers who reduce their taxed beverage purchases do not increase their purchases of most high-calorie, high-sugar non-taxed foods and beverages. Dr. Grummon also led a project in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene that projected the potential impacts of minimum price law for sugary drinks, an underused but promising policy for spuring consumers to choose healthier beverages. 

  1. Grummon, A.H., Roberto, C.A., Lawman, H.G., Bleich, S.N., Yan, J., Hua, S.V., Lowery, C.M., Peterhans, A., & Gibson, L.A. (20212. Purchases of non-taxed foods, beverages, and alcohol in a longitudinal cohort after implementation of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax. Journal of Nutrition, 152(3): 880-888. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab421

  2. Grummon, A.H. & Golden, S.D. (2022). Sugar-sweetened beverage pricing policies: Simulation of minimum price laws and taxes in New York City. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 62(3): e159-e168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.08.029

  3. Falbe, J. Grummon, A.H., & Krieger, J.W. (2021). Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes and population health outcomes. Invited Commentary. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(2): 129-131. https://doi.org/doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.5051

  4. Grummon, A.H., Roberto, C.A., & Krieger, J.W. (2020). Is the association between beverage taxes and reductions in sales driven by communication of health consequences in addition to price increases? Invited Commentary. JAMA Open Network, 3(12): e2032537. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.32537.

  5. Falbe, J., Grummon, A.H., Rojas, N., Ryan-Ibarra, S., Silver, L.D., & Madsen, K.A. (2020). Implementation of the nation’s first sugar-sweetened beverage tax in 2015 in Berkeley, CA. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9): 1429-1437. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305795. 

  6. Grummon, A.H., Lockwood, B.B., Taubinsky, D., & Allcott, H. (2019). Designing better sugary drink taxes. Science, 365(6457): 989-990. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav5199.

  7. Falbe, J., Rojas, N., Grummon, A.H., & Madsen, K.A. (2015). Higher retail prices of sugar-sweetened beverages 3 months after implementation of an excise tax in Berkeley, California. American Journal of Public Health, 105(11): 2194-2201. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302881.

Food Assistance Programs

A third area of Dr. Grummon's work examines how changes to food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could improve diet. Every year, about 1 in 7 Americans participate in SNAP, making the program an important lever for improving Americans’ dietary quality and food security. Dr. Grummon and colleagues have used electronic transaction data from thousands of households to characterize SNAP participants’ diet-related behaviors with an eye toward identifying changes to the program that could encourage healthier diets and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in the nutrition quality of food and beverage purchases. In ongoing work, Dr. Grummon is evaluating the impact of in-store marketing on SNAP participants' food and beverage purchases. She is also collaborating with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) office of Massachusetts to examine benefits redemption among MA WIC participants. 

*Indicates mentored student or trainee.

  1. Reimold A.E.*, Grummon A.H., Taillie L.S., Brewer N.T., Rimm E.B., & Hall M.G. (2021). Barriers and facilitators to achieving food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preventive Medicine Reports, 23: 101500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101500

  2. Grummon A.H. & Taillie L.S. (2017). Nutritional profile of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program household food and beverage purchases. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 105(6):1433-1442. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.116.147173.

  3. Grummon A.H. & Taillie L.S. (2018). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation and racial/ethnic disparities in food and beverage purchases. Public Health Nutrition, 21(18): 3377-3385. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018002598.

  4. Taillie L.S., Grummon A.H., & Miles D.R. (2018). Nutritional profile of purchases by store type: Disparities by income and food program participation. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 55(2):167-177. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018002598.

Creating Healthier Food and Beverage Environments

Another question motivating Dr. Grummon's work is how policies can be used to create healthier food and beverage environments. She has collaborated on several studies evaluating interventions to increase children’s access to healthy beverages like water and reduce their access to unhealthy beverages like sugary drinks and juice. The majority of successful obesity prevention interventions for children target several factors simultaneously and therefore can be challenging to deliver at scale. These studies suggest that interventions focused narrowly but intensely on improving the beverage environment may provide a simple yet effective means of promoting healthy weight among children. Dr. Grummon's work has also evalutated industry responses to food policies to evaluate how these policies can improve the heathfulness of the food supply. This work has shown that food policies such as a mandatory menu calorie labeling might spur retailers to remove unhealthy nutrients from some categories of foods.

*Indicated mentored student or trainee.

  1. Grummon, A.H.,§ Petimar, J.,§ Soto, M.J., Bleich, S.N., Simon, D., Cleveland, L.P., Rao, A.*, & Block, J.P. (2021). Changes in calorie content of menu items at large chain restaurants after implementation of calorie labels. JAMA Network Open, 4(12): e2141353-e2141353. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.41353
    §Joint first authors.

  2. Grummon A.H., Petimar J., Zhang F., Rimm, E.B., Simon, D., Rao, A.*, Gortmaker, S.L., Moran, A.J., Franckle, R.L., Bleich, S.N., Polacsek, M., Greene, J., Till, S., & Block, J.P. (2021). Calorie labeling and product reformulation: A longitudinal analysis of supermarket prepared foods. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 61(3): 377-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.03.013.

  3. Grummon, A.H., Cabana, M.D., Hecht, A.A., Alkon, A., McCulloch, C.E., Brindis, C.D., & Patel, A.I. (2019). Effects of a multi-pronged beverage intervention on young children’s beverage intake and weight: A cluster-randomized pilot study. Public Health Nutrition, 22(15): 2856-2867. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980019001629.

  4. Patel, A.I., Grummon, A.H., Hampton, K.E., & Oliva, A.O. (2016). A trial of the efficacy and cost of water delivery systems in San Francisco Bay Area middle schools, 2013. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13: E88. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd13.160108.

  5. Grummon, A.H., Hampton, K.E., Oliva, A.O., & Patel, A.I. (2015). Association between student purchase of beverages during the school commute and in-school consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, San Francisco Bay Area, 2013. Preventing Chronic Disease, 12: 150306. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.15030.