Workplace sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) sales bans can reduce SSB consumption. Because stress and anxiety can promote sugar consumption, we examined whether anxiety among hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in SSB consumption and explored whether this relationship varied by exposure to a workplace SSB sales ban.

In a prospective, controlled trial of workplace SSB sales bans, we examined self-reported anxiety (generalised anxiety disorder-7) and self-reported SSB consumption (fluid ounces/d) before (July 2019) and during (May 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospital sites in two conditions (four with SSB sales bans and three without sales bans) in Northern California.

We sampled 580 participants (hospital employees) from a larger trial of sales bans; all were regular consumers of SSB (minimum 3/week at main trial enrollment). This subsample was chosen based on having appropriately timed data for our study questions.

Across conditions, participants reduced SSB consumption over the study period. However, participants with higher pandemic-era anxiety scores experienced smaller reductions in SSB consumption after 9 months compared with those with lower anxiety scores (β = 0·65, P < 0·05). When the sample was disaggregated by sales ban condition, this relationship held for participants in the control group (access to SSB at work, β = 0·82, P < 0·05), but not for those exposed to an SSB sales ban (β = 0·42, P = 0·25).

SSB sales bans likely reduce SSB consumption through multiple pathways; buffering stress-related consumption may be one mechanism.

To examine the effectiveness of a workplace sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) sales ban on reducing SSB consumption in employees, including those with cardiometabolic disease risk factors.

A controlled trial of ethnically diverse, full-time employees who consumed SSB heavily (sales ban n 315; control n 342). Outcomes included standardised measures of change in SSB consumption in the workplace (primary) and at home between baseline and 6 months post-sales ban.

Sutter Health, a large non-profit healthcare delivery system in Northern California.

Full-time employees at Sutter Health screened for heavy SSB consumption.

Participants were 66·1 % non-White. On average, participants consumed 34·7 ounces (about 1 litre) of SSB per d, and the majority had an elevated baseline BMI (mean = 29·5). In adjusted regression analyses, those exposed to a workplace SSB sales ban for 6 months consumed 2·7 (95 % CI –4·9, –0·5) fewer ounces of SSB per d while at work, and 4·3 (95 % CI –8·4, –0·2) fewer total ounces per d, compared to controls. Sales ban participants with an elevated BMI or waist circumference had greater post-intervention reductions in workplace SSB consumption.

Workplace sales bans can reduce SSB consumption in ethnically diverse employee populations, including those at higher risk for cardiometabolic disease.