FoodFLIP: Testing the Effectiveness of a Food Information App to Promote the Selection of Healthier Foods
Condition: Consumer Behavior; Diet, Food, and Nutrition
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      There is a lot of confusion when it comes to understanding nutrition information on food
      packages, thus making it difficult for consumers to choose healthy products. In today's busy
      and fast-paced shopping environment, mobile digital technology (for example, Smartphone
      applications) can help consumers make 'healthier' food choices when they are shopping. This
      study aims to test the effectiveness of a traffic light front-of-pack system, the Health Star
      Rating System (HSR or Star System), and the proposed sodium, saturated fat and sugar warning
      labels proposed by Health Canada. The study will also experimentally test the use of a
      Smartphone application (app), FoodFlip, to help educate consumers on these systems on food
      packages to explore the impact of a learning effect on the efficacy of the labelling systems.
    

Detailed description: 
      The rising rate of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases illustrate that Canadians'
      eating habits need to change. Equipping Canadians with information and tools to enable
      healthy food choices that decrease risk for disease is imperative. While the Nutrition Facts
      table (NFt) is the most standardized and complete form of nutrition labelling, studies have
      shown that consumers are confused about serving size, nutrient quantities, and the
      interpretation of the % Daily Value. Thus, expert groups have proposed the introduction of
      interpretive front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition rating systems (e.g. traffic light labelling or
      star ratings) that also help consumers understand the significance of the levels of nutrients
      in relation to the "healthiness" of a food. One of the main barriers to the introduction of
      such a system is the absence of high quality studies that objectively measure the impact of
      nutrition information on actual food purchases. This is a consequence of both the practical
      challenges associated with designing and conducting such studies in 'real-world' settings,
      and the lack of food industry support to quantitatively examine or publish the potential for
      enhanced nutrition labels to modify consumer food choices. With the growing burden of
      diet-related disease, there is an urgent need for robust evidence to evaluate the potential
      for additional interpretive nutrition labelling systems to modify and improve food purchasing
      patterns. Given the relative ubiquity of mobile digital technologies, our Canadian Smartphone
      application (FoodFLIP) provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to examine and improve
      consumers' diets.

      This study will investigate whether a traffic light, a health star rating or a high-in
      warning label FOP system can help consumers identify and purchase healthier foods.

      Objective 1: To evaluate the effects of three FOP systems in helping consumers characterize
      healthfulness and nutritional content of food items.

      Objective 2: To determine which of the three FOP systems support healthier food choices and
      are preferred by Canadian consumers.
    

Intervention name(s): Nutrition Rating Systems
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Behavioural: Nutrition Rating Systems (shown on a mobile app) provide consumers with an interpretation of the healthfulness of a food or beverage product.
Other intervention name(s): Device: Smartphone
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Front-of-Pack Labelling; Star rating system; Traffic light rating system; Consumer Behavior; Health Literacy; Mobile Apps; Nutrition Labeling; Healthy food choices; High-in Warning Labels