Testing Non-nutritive Sweetener Labels in Chile

NCT06842693 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 24-2896a24-2205
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 3,916
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this experiment is to examine the effects of 2 types of non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) warning labels among a sample of Chilean parents. The main questions this experiment aims to answer are: Do non-nutritive sweetener warning labels improve consumers' ability to identify when a product contains non-nutritive sweeteners? Do non-nutritive sweetener warning labels impact on consumers' selection of non-nutritive sweetener-sweetened, unsweetened, and/or sugar-sweetened products for their children? Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 3 types of labels and view their assigned label on 3 sets of products. Each set will display 4 similar products: one unsweetened, one sweetened with sugar, one sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners, and one sweetened with both sugar and non-nutritive sweeteners. For each set, participants will identify which product(s) contain NNS and select the product that they would purchase for their child. Researchers will compare results across label types.

Conditions

Diet, Healthy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Correct identification of non-nutritive sweetener containing products

  Correct identification of products that contain non-nutritive sweeteners will be measured by survey. Response will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant correctly identified the products that contained non-nutritive sweeteners and 0 indicates that the participant did not correctly identify the products that contained non-nutritive sweeteners.

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Selection of non-nutritive sweetener-sweetened product for purchase

  Selection of sugar-sweetened product for purchase will be measured by survey. Response will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant chose one of the non-nutritive sweetener-sweetened products and 0 indicates that the participants selected one of the other two products.

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Selection of unsweetened product for purchase

  Selection of unsweetened product for purchase will be measured by survey. Response will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant chose the unsweetened product and 0 indicates that the participants selected one of the other three products.

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Selection of sugar-sweetened product for purchase

  Selection of sugar-sweetened product for purchase will be measured by survey. Response will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant chose one of the sugar-sweetened products and 0 indicates that the participants selected one of the other two products.

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Perceived message effectiveness, mean score

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Perceived product healthfulness, mean score

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Relative product healthfulness, mean score

  During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

• Intentions to limit non-nutritive sweetener consumption, mean score

  After exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.

Study Arms (3)

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Control

Chilean non-nutritive sweetener label

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Chilean non-nutritive sweetener label

Colombian non-nutritive sweetener label

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Colombian non-nutritive sweetener label

Interventions

Control BEHAVIORAL

Products carry neutral control label when containing non-nutritive sweeteners. Additionally, to match the current Chilean legislation, products carry an octagonal label that states "high in sugar" when high in added sugars, and/or an octagonal label that states "high in calories" when high in calorie density.

Control

Chilean non-nutritive sweetener label BEHAVIORAL

Products carry rectangular label that states "contains non-nutritive sweeteners, not recommended for children" when containing non-nutritive sweeteners. Additionally, to match the current Chilean legislation, products carry an octagonal label that states "high in sugar" when high in added sugars, and/or an octagonal label that states "high in calories" when high in calorie density.

Chilean non-nutritive sweetener label

Colombian non-nutritive sweetener label BEHAVIORAL

Products carry octagonal label that states "contains non-nutritive sweeteners " when containing non-nutritive sweeteners. Additionally, to match the current Chilean legislation, products carry an octagonal label that states "high in sugar" when high in added sugars, and/or an octagonal label that states "high in calories" when high in calorie density.

Colombian non-nutritive sweetener label

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• years or older
• Parent or guardian of child between 2-14 years old who has never been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood sugar, pre-diabetes or insulin resistance
• Residing in Chile

You may not qualify if:

• Less than 18 years old
• Not parent or guardian of child between 2-14 years old who has never been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood sugar, pre-diabetes or insulin resistance
• Not residing in Chile

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: lead
• Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos: collaborator
• Bloomberg Philanthropies: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Lindsey Smith Taillie, PhD

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 18, 2025
• First Posted: February 24, 2025
• Study Start: July 14, 2025
• Primary Completion: August 31, 2025
• Study Completion: August 31, 2025
• Last Updated: September 9, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: The Study Protocol and statistical analysis plan will be available by March 2025 (prior to data collection). A de-identified version of the data collected and analytic code used will become available after data collection and analysis and will remain available indefinitely.
• Access Criteria: Open access

Locations

US (1)