Clinical trial NCT05432271: Online Food and Beverage Labels and Vending Machine Selections
Official title: A Large-scale, Long-term, Randomized Trial of Nutrition Labeling Interventions
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Food Preferences
Obesity
Weight Gain
Keywords: food labeling
sugar-sweetened beverages
eating
drinking
choice behavior
Lead sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
First posted: 2022-06-27
Enrollment: 8145
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: 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.
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

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.

Detailed description: This project involves an online randomized experiment. We are working with an external survey company that will recruit 8,000 participants to complete an online survey in which they will be randomized to one of the five different label conditions: 1) calorie labels (control condition); 2) single green traffic light labels (on healthy foods); 3) multiple traffic light labels (red traffic light labels applied to less healthy foods, yellow applied to moderately healthy foods, and green on healthy foods); 4) physical activity labels (calorie content displayed in terms of physical activity equivalents); 5) "High in" warnings (applied to all products exceeding thresholds for calories, saturated fat, sugar, or sodium content). Participants will be instructed to select products to purchase in a mock vending machine. After purchasing their products, they will be asked to answer questions about their perceptions of the different labels.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

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

Exclusion Criteria:

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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants Purchasing Beverages With Calories
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Calories Purchased From Beverages, if Beverage With Calories Chosen
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Calories Purchased From Snacks
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Moderately Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Less Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Moderately Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Likelihood of Selecting a Less Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Saturated Fat Purchased From Beverages
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Sodium Purchased From Beverages
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Total Sugar Purchased From Beverages
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Saturated Fat Purchased From Snacks
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Sodium Purchased From Snacks
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Total Sugar Purchased From Snacks
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Moderately Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Less Healthy Beverage
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Moderately Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Healthiness of a Less Healthy Snack
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Noticing Trial Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Degree of Perceived Label Influence on Beverage Selection
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Degree of Perceived Label Influence on Snack Selection
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Trust in Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Reactance to Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Attention to Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Learned From Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Thinking About Health Effects
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Discouragement
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Encouragement
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Negative Emotional Reactions
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Control in Response to Labels
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Personal Stigmatization
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Perceived Obesity Stigma
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
measure: Disgust Toward People With Obesity
timeFrame: The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: University of Pennsylvania
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Pennsylvania
name: Christina A Roberto, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: