Testing "Ultraprocessed" Front-of-package Label Among Brazilian Consumers

Dietary Exposure Clinical Trial

Official title:

Testing the Impact of an "Ultraprocessed" Front-of-package Warning Label Among Brazilian Consumers

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05842460
• Other study ID #: 23-0151
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: May 24, 2023
• Est. completion date: June 28, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: August 2023
• Source: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this experiment is to test the effects an "ultraprocessed" warning label on foods and beverages among Brazilian consumers. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Do "ultraprocessed" warnings affect Brazilian consumers' intention to purchase products?

• Do "ultraprocessed" warnings affect Brazilian consumers' product perceptions?

Participants will see images of four products carrying either nutrient warning labels (which are currently mandatory in Brazil) or nutrient warning labels alongside an experimental warning label informing that the product is ultraprocessed. Participants will then answer survey questions about each product. Researchers will compare responses between both arms to determine if the "ultraprocessed" warning significantly changes the effect of nutrient warnings.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 1007
• Est. completion date: June 28, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: June 28, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria:

• 18 years or older,

• residing in Brazil,

• responsible for at least 50% of the household's grocery purchases.

Exclusion criteria:

• involvement in any pre-testing.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Dietary Exposure

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Nutrient warning labels
Inclusion of nutrient warning labels, which are currently mandatory in Brazil, to images of food products.
• Nutrient and ultraprocessed warning labels
Inclusion of nutrient warning labels, which are currently mandatory in Brazil, and an experimental ultraprocessed warning label to images of food products.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill	North Carolina

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	The Bloomberg Family Foundation, Inc.

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (2)

Cotter T, Kotov A, Wang S, Murukutla N. 'Warning: ultra-processed' - A call for warnings on foods that aren't really foods. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Dec;6(12):e007240. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007240. No abstract available. — View Citation

Romero Ferreiro C, Lora Pablos D, Gomez de la Camara A. Two Dimensions of Nutritional Value: Nutri-Score and NOVA. Nutrients. 2021 Aug 13;13(8):2783. doi: 10.3390/nu13082783. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Purchase intentions	How likely the participant would be to buy products will be measured by survey. Response options are on a 1 to 5 scale, with higher scores representing a higher likelihood of buying products.	Online survey within 20 minutes following completion of a ~10 minute shopping task.
Secondary	Product healthfulness perceptions	How healthy products seem to the participant will be measured by survey. Response options are on a 1 to 5 scale, with higher scores representing a higher perceived product healthfulness.	Online survey within 20 minutes following completion of a ~10 minute shopping task.
Secondary	Product processing status perceptions	Whether the participant believes products are ultraprocessed will be measured by survey. Responses options are "no," "yes," and "I'm not sure."	Online survey within 20 minutes following completion of a ~10 minute shopping task.
Secondary	Message effectiveness perceptions	Perceived message effectiveness of the study labels will be measured by survey through a three-item scale. Items inquire about how much the labels discourage the participant from wanting to consume the products, how much the labels make the participant concerned about the health effects of consuming the products, and how much the labels make consuming the products seem unpleasant. Response options are on a 1 to 5 scale, with higher scores representing a higher perceived message effectiveness of the study labels.	Online survey within 20 minutes following completion of a ~10 minute shopping task.

External Links

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