Effect of Added-sugar Menu Labels

NCT06666725 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1641776-8
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 11,275
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

To compare two added-sugar menu label--(1) red, icon-only, 150% of the menu text height and (2) black, icon-plus-text, 100% of the menu text height--to a no-label control on grams of added sugar ordered using two different added-sugar labeling thresholds: (1) ≥50% of Daily Value for added sugar (equivalent to ≥25g) and (2) ≥100% of Daily Value for added sugar (equivalent to ≥50g)

Conditions

Nutrition Knowledge; Dietary Behaviour

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Grams of added sugar ordered averaged across fast-food and full-service menus

  Continuous variable. Average grams of added sugar in foods and beverages selected, averaged across fast-food and full-service menus, analyzed using linear regression to examine differences between factor levels

  Within approximately 2 minutes of intervention exposure

• Grams of added sugar ordered from a cafe menu

  Continuous variable. Total grams of added sugar in menu items selected from a cafe menu, analyzed using linear regression to examine differences between factor levels

  Within approximately 2 minutes of intervention exposure

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Noticing and recall of added-sugar nutrient label - dichotomous variable "Correct" (Answered "Yes" to noticing, answered "Added sugars" to recall, and answered "high" for high low recall question) or "Incorrect" (otherwise)

  Within approximately 10 minutes of intervention exposure

• Knowledge of menu items high in added sugar

  Within approximately 10 minutes of intervention exposure

Other Outcomes (2)

• Selection of at least one item that has ≥50% of the Daily Value of added sugar

  Within approximately 10 minutes of intervention exposure

• Selection of at least one item that has ≥100% of Daily Value of added sugar

  Within approximately 10 minutes of intervention exposure

Study Arms (5)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participant will order food and beverages from three menus. The menus will not contain any added sugar labels.

Large, red, icon-only label, 50% daily value

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will order food and beverages from three menus containing labels next to items that contain equal to or higher than half the daily value of added sugar (greater than or equal to 25 grams). The label will be on the right of the item, colored red, icon only design, and height that is 150% of size of the menu text height.

Other: Menu label

Large, red, icon-only label, 100% daily value

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will order food and beverages from three menus containing labels next to items that contain equal to or higher than the total daily value of added sugar (greater than or equal to 50 grams). The label will be on the right of the item, colored red, icon only design, and height that is 150% of size of the menu text height.

Other: Menu label

Small, black, icon-plus-text label, 50% daily value

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will order food and beverages from three menus containing labels next to items that contain equal to or higher than half the daily value of added sugar (greater than or equal to 25 grams). The label will be on the right of the item, colored black, icon plus text design, and height that is 100% of size of the menu text height.

Other: Menu label

Small, black, icon-plus-text label, 100% daily value

EXPERIMENTAL

Participant will order food and beverages from three menus containing labels next to items that contain equal to or higher than the total daily value of added sugar (greater than or equal to 50 grams). The label will be on the right of the item, colored black, icon plus text design, and height that is 100% of size of the menu text height.

Other: Menu label

Interventions

Menu label OTHER

Participants will select food items from three restaurant menus, displayed with labels as specified by their assigned group

Large, red, icon-only label, 100% daily value; Large, red, icon-only label, 50% daily value; Small, black, icon-plus-text label, 100% daily value; Small, black, icon-plus-text label, 50% daily value

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 99 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Equal or greater than 18 years of age
• English-speaking
• U.S. residents
• Have eaten restaurant food at least once in the last month
• Participants will reflect the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-year estimates for sex, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and age

You may not qualify if:

• Failing the attention check question
• Completing the survey in less than 33% of the median completion time

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Davis: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of California, Davis

Davis, California, 95616, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Jennifer Falbe, ScD, MPH

  University of California, Davis

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 17, 2024
• First Posted: October 31, 2024
• Study Start: December 23, 2024
• Primary Completion: February 13, 2025
• Study Completion: February 13, 2025
• Last Updated: May 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: The IPD will be available no later than 6 months post-publication of all related research or 18 months from the end date of the award funding this work. The IPD will be available for approximately 5 years (depending constraints of the repository).
• Access Criteria: Data will be deposited in an NIH-supported repository, access to which will be described on the principal investigator's website. A data sharing agreement will be required to ensure that the data will only be used for non-commercial research purposes.

Locations

US (1)