The Efficacy of Front-of-package Labelling Schemes: an Experimental Study

Cardiovascular Diseases Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Efficacy of Front-of-package Labelling Schemes: an Experimental Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03290118
• Other study ID #: 34393
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 20, 2017
• Est. completion date: October 9, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: October 2018
• Source: University of Toronto
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This is an online study that aims to test the effectiveness of Interpretative Nutrition Rating Systems (INRS) such as the Health Star Rating System (HSR or Star System), traffic light system and warning labels (high sodium, saturated fat and sugar) proposed by Health Canada. The study will incorporate the use of a Smartphone application (app), FoodFlip®, to help educate consumers on each INRS prior to their exposure on food packages.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 2008
• Est. completion date: October 9, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: October 9, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• speak English as a primary language

• reside in Canada excluding the Northern Territories

• are 18 years or over

• provide informed consent

• do at least some of the household grocery shopping

• own a smartphone (version iPhone 3 or later or Android)

• are able to complete the survey on a minimum screen size of 9.7 inches.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Diet Modification
• Nutrition

Intervention

Other:
• Nutrition Rating System - Traffic Light
Behavioural: Nutrition Rating Systems (shown on the online survey and the mobile app) provide consumers with an interpretation of the healthfulness of a food or beverage, by indicating the levels (low=green, moderate=amber, high=red) of sodium, saturated fat and sugar in a product based on modified Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) criteria.
• Nutrition Rating System - Health Star
Behavioural: Nutrition Rating Systems (shown on the online survey and the mobile app) provide consumers with an interpretation of the healthfulness of a food or beverage product by indicating the number of stars awarded to a product, from 0.5 to 5 stars, based on modified Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) nutrient profiling criteria.
• Nutrition Rating System - Warning Label
Behavioural: Nutrition Rating Systems (shown on the online survey and the mobile app) provide consumers with an interpretation of the healthfulness of a food or beverage product by indicating with a warning label products that are "high" in sodium, saturated fat and sugar, based on a percent daily value (%DV) greater than 15% for individual products and 30% for combination dishes.

Device:
• Smartphone application FoodFlip Device®
This is embedded within each condition to inform and educate consumers about the labelling condition/intervention to which they are randomized. All participants are assigned to an app task to view 20 products and see the 'rating' these products would get according to their condition.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	University of Toronto	Toronto	Ontario

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Toronto

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Comprehension task - ability to identify healthy products (survey measure)	The participant's ability to identify the most healthy product in a group of 5 products in a task rating 5 products with varying levels of 'healthiness' according to modified FSANZ criteria. Question wording: Please rank these products in terms of healthiness where 1 is the"most healthy" and 5 is the "least healthy" cereal	1 day (assessed immediately after app task and while viewing products with labelling system applied
Primary	Comprehension task - ability to identify unhealthy products (survey measure)	The participant's ability to identify the least healthy product in a group of products in a group of 5 products in a task rating 5 products with varying levels of 'healthiness' according to modified FSANZ criteria. Question wording: Please rank these products in terms of healthiness where 1 is the"most healthy" and 5 is the "least healthy" cereal	1 day (assessed immediately after app task and while viewing products with labelling system applied
Secondary	Comprehension task - ability to identify the overall 'healthiness' of a product (survey measure - Likert scale)	The participant's ability to accurately rate a product as more or less healthy according to the type and amount of nutritional information on the product, using a 7 point Likert scale. Question wording: How healthy is this (product) for you?	1 day (assessed immediately after app task and while viewing products with labelling system applied
Secondary	Hypothetical purchasing of products (survey measure - Likert scale)	The participant's perceived likelihood of purchasing a product according to the type and amount of nutritional information on the product, using a 7 point Likert scale.; Question wording: Assume this product has a cost similar to other (product category). If you were shopping for (product), how likely would you be to purchase this one?	1 day (assessed immediately after app task and while viewing products with labelling system applied