Front-of-Package Nutrition Labels

Summary

The goal of this study is to determine whether certain front-of-package food labeling systems improve the healthfulness of consumers' grocery selections. US adults who are their households' primary shoppers will complete a shopping task in a naturalistic online grocery store. They will be exposed to different front-of-package food labeling systems and asked to shop for groceries. The online store will record participants' selections. Participants will also be asked to complete survey measures.

Conditions

• Nutrition
• Food Selection
• Food Preferences
• Dietary Habits
• Healthy Diet

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Positive Labels

Products that meet Guiding Stars' criteria for earning 1 or more Guiding Star will display labels indicating their healthfulness using star ratings: 1 star ("Good"), 2 stars ("Better"), or 3 stars ("Best").

BEHAVIORAL

Spectrum Labels

All products will display an expanded Guiding Stars label that show an overall rating indicating their healthfulness using star ratings: 1 star ("Poor"), 2 stars ("Fair"), 3 stars ("Good"), 4 stars ("Better"), or 5 stars ("Best").

BEHAVIORAL

FDA High In Labels

Products that contain high levels (i.e., ≥20% DV per serving) of saturated fat, sodium, or added sugars will display a label indicating which of these nutrients the product is high in.

BEHAVIORAL

FDA Traffic Light Labels

All products will display a "Nutrition Info" label showing whether the amount of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars in 1 serving of the product is low (\<5% DV), medium (≥5 to \<20% DV), or high (≥20% DV). "Low" will be shown in green, "Medium" in yellow, and "High" in red.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Stanford University

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

  collaborator NIH

• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jason P. Block, MD · Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

• Anna H. Grummon, PhD · Stanford University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-10-31

Primary Completion

2024-11-21

Completion

2024-11-21

Countries

• United States

Study Locations