Clinical trial NCT06842680: Testing Ultraprocessed Food Labels in Chile
Official title: Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Ultraprocessed Food Warning Label in Chile
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Diet, Healthy
Lead sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos
name: Bloomberg Philanthropies
First posted: 2025-02-24
Enrollment: 3306
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The goal of this experiment is to examine the effects of a warning label signaling that a product is ultraprocessed among a sample of Chilean parents. The main questions this experiment aims to answer are:

Do ultraprocessed warning labels on their own impact product purchase intentions?

Do ultraprocessed warning labels impact product purchase intentions in the presence of nutrient warning labels?

Do ultraprocessed warning labels help more consumers identify ultraprocessed foods?

Participants will be randomly assigned to a control arm or an ultraprocessed warning label arm. In both arms, products will carry nutrient warning labels, which are Chile's current policy. Participants will see three similar products, all of which will be ultraprocessed: one not high in any nutrients of concern, one high in sodium, and one high in sodium and saturated fat. For each product, participants will rate their purchase intentions and indicate whether they believe the product to be ultraprocessed. Researchers will compare results across arms.

Detailed description: Participants will complete an online randomized experiment programmed in Qualtrics. After providing informed consent, participants will be randomly assigned to one of two arms: control (i.e., no ultraprocessed warning label) arm or ultraprocessed warning label arm. In both arms, products will carry nutrient warning labels, which are Chile's current policy.

In random order, participants will see three similar mock bags of potato chips. All products seen will be ultraprocessed, and thus carry an ultraprocessed warning label in the ultraprocessed warning label arm. Additionally, one of the products will not be high in any nutrients of concern, one product will be high in sodium, and one product will be high in sodium and saturated fat. For each product, participants will rate their purchase intentions, perceived healthfulness, and indicate whether they believe the product to be ultraprocessed.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 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

Exclusion Criteria:

* 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Purchase intentions, mean score
timeFrame: During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.
measure: Correct identification of products as ultraprocessed
timeFrame: During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perceived product healthfulness, mean score
timeFrame: During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Chapel Hill
country: United States
facility: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health
state: North Carolina
Study officials:
affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
name: Aline D'Angelo Campos, MPP
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: