Online Food and Beverage Labels and Vending Machine Selections

NCT05432271 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 850263R01DK113307
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 8,145
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of this study is to compare the impact of 5 different types of front of package (FOP) food and beverage labels: 1) calorie labels \[control\], 2) green labels on healthy foods, 3) red/yellow/green labels on less healthy/moderately healthy/healthy foods, 4) physical activity calorie equivalent labels, and 5) "High in" nutrient warning labels) on consumers' beverage and snack selections.

Conditions

Food Preferences; Obesity; Weight Gain

Keywords

food labeling; sugar-sweetened beverages; eating; drinking; choice behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Number of Participants Purchasing Beverages With Calories

  Participants will select a beverage to purchase from the online vending machine. Outcome is binary: purchased a beverage with calories or not.

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Calories Purchased From Beverages, if Beverage With Calories Chosen

  Participants will select a beverage to purchase from the online vending machine. Outcome is calories in beverage chosen to purchase - only for those participants who chose a beverage with calories.

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Calories Purchased From Snacks

  Participants will select a snack to purchase from the online vending machine. Outcome is calories in snacks chosen to purchase.

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

Secondary Outcomes (33)

• Likelihood of Selecting a Healthy Beverage

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Likelihood of Selecting a Moderately Healthy Beverage

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Likelihood of Selecting a Less Healthy Beverage

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Likelihood of Selecting a Healthy Snack

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

• Likelihood of Selecting a Moderately Healthy Snack

  The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

Study Arms (5)

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Calorie labels shown on front of product packaging

Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information

Green labels

EXPERIMENTAL

Green label added to front of product packaging for healthy products; no additional labels shown for "less healthy" products

Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Behavioral: Exposure to healthy labels only

Traffic light labels

EXPERIMENTAL

Red/yellow/green labels added to front of product packaging for less healthy/moderately healthy/healthy products, respectively

Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Behavioral: Exposure to healthiness information

Physical activity calorie equivalent labels

EXPERIMENTAL

Labels added to front of product packaging that display products' calorie content in terms of physical activity required to burn those calories

Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Behavioral: Exposure to physical activity equivalents

"High in" nutrient warning labels

EXPERIMENTAL

Labels added to front of product packaging that signal when the product exceeds thresholds for sugar, sodium, saturated fat, or calorie content

Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Behavioral: Exposure to "high in" nutrient warning labels

Interventions

Exposure to calorie information BEHAVIORAL

Calories for all beverages and foods

"High in" nutrient warning labels; Control; Green labels; Physical activity calorie equivalent labels; Traffic light labels

Exposure to healthy labels only BEHAVIORAL

Green labels only for beverages and foods scored as healthy

Green labels

Exposure to healthiness information BEHAVIORAL

All beverages and foods labeled as either healthy (green), moderately healthy (yellow), or less healthy (red)

Traffic light labels

Exposure to physical activity equivalents BEHAVIORAL

All beverages and foods labeled with physical activity required to burn their calories

Physical activity calorie equivalent labels

Exposure to "high in" nutrient warning labels BEHAVIORAL

Warning labels only for beverages and foods that exceed the thresholds for sugar, sodium, saturated fat, or calorie content

"High in" nutrient warning labels

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participants will be US adults
• Ages 18 or older
• With an over-sample of adults with lower educational attainment (some college or less)

You may not qualify if:

• Younger than 18
• Non-US
• Educational quota filled

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Grummon AH, Gibson LA, Musicus AA, Stephens-Shields AJ, Hua SV, Roberto CA. Effects of 4 Interpretive Front-of-Package Labeling Systems on Hypothetical Beverage and Snack Selections: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Sep 5;6(9):e2333515. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.33515.

  PMID: 37703015 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Food Preferences; Obesity; Weight Gain

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Feeding Behavior; Behavior; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Body Weight Changes

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Laura Gibson
• Organization: University of Pennsylvania

gibla@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

215-898-7093

Study Officials

• Christina A Roberto, PhD

  University of Pennsylvania

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 5 front-of-package labeling arms with equal probability: Participants will complete two vending machine choice tasks with their assigned labels shown (one for beverages, one for snack foods, in random order). For each choice task, participants will be asked to select 1 item they most wish to purchase. We will incentivize truthful responding by instructing participants that they could be randomly selected to have their choice delivered to them. We will record participants' selections and match these to nutrition information.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 15, 2022
• First Posted: June 27, 2022
• Study Start: November 16, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 3, 2022
• Study Completion: December 3, 2022
• Last Updated: December 20, 2023
• Results First Posted: December 20, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: SAP
• Time Frame: Starting 6 months after publication
• Access Criteria: Public

Locations

US (1)