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Testing Ultra-processed Warning Labels in United States

NCT07533877 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 7000

Last updated 2026-05-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This randomized controlled online experiment will test whether adding an ultra-processed food (UPF) warning label to the FDA's proposed Nutrition Information Box (NIB) changes consumer perceptions of UPFs among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.

Participants will be randomized to one of four label conditions and will evaluate four UPF yogurt products with different nutritional profiles on the NIB. The primary outcome is purchase intent and the secondary outcomes are perceived healthfulness, perceived usefulness and correct identification of UPF products.

This experiment aims to answer the following questions:

Do UPF warning labels reduce purchase intentions compared to the NIB alone? Do UPF warning labels reduce perceived healthfulness compared to the NIB alone? Do UPF warning labels help more consumers correctly identify products as ultra-processed compared to the NIB alone? Do different UPF warning label color designs differ in effectiveness at reducing purchase intentions, lowering perceived healthfulness, and improving correct identification of UPFs?

Researchers will compare outcomes across the four randomized arms to estimate the independent effect of adding UPF warnings beyond nutrient disclosure in the NIB alone.

Conditions

  • Diet
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Nutrition Labeling

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Label exposure in mock-up UPF products

This intervention consists of exposure to ultra-processed warning label (UPFWL) conditions embedded within the FDA Nutrition Information Box (NIB). Participants view mock-ups of ultra-processed yogurt products displaying either the NIB alone or the NIB combined with a UPFWL (yellow, red, or black). This intervention experimentally isolates the incremental effect of adding a processing-based warning across products with varying nutritional profiles, providing evidence on how UPFWL, independent of nutrient content, can alter purchase intent, identification of UPFs and perceived healthfulness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Julia Wolfson, PhD · Johns Hopkins University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-04-13
Primary Completion
2026-05-21
Completion
2026-05-21

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07533877 on ClinicalTrials.gov