Do Warning Labels Decrease Soda Purchasing?

President and Fellows of Harvard College

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Other: Label Condition

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02744859

IRB16-0222

Details and patient eligibility

About

Investigators will run a field study evaluating the impact different labels have on the purchasing of sugar sweetened beverages. This field study will take place in a hospital cafeteria.

Full description

In a hospital cafeteria investigators will label all sugar sweetened beverages to evaluate their impact on purchasing.

Investigators will collect baseline data for two weeks on beverage sales at the hospital cafe. Following this data collection investigators will introduce a calorie label which reads "Each beverage contains [lower calorie bound]-[upper calorie bound] calories per container. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice but calorie needs vary." These signs will be posted for two weeks and investigators will collect sales data. Following this intervention investigators will remove the signs and collect sales data for two weeks. At the end of this no label period, investigators will introduce the second intervention, a warning label. This label will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay." This label will also be posted for two weeks and investigators will collect sales data. Investigators will then remove these signs and collect sales data for two weeks. Finally, investigators will introduce the third intervention: a warning label with graphic labels. This label will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay." However this sign will also include a visual depiction of each health consequence. Investigators will collect sales data for this two week period. After this intervention investigators will collect sales data for an additional two weeks and then administer a brief survey to cafeteria customers to better understand their impressions of the labels.

Enrollment: 6,000 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Customers of the hospital cafeteria.

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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6,000 participants in 4 patient groups

Calorie Label

Experimental group

Description:

Labels will read "\[lower calorie bound\] - \[upper calorie bound\] calories per container. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice but calorie needs vary."

Treatment:

Other: Label Condition

Warning Label

Experimental group

Description:

Labels will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay."

Treatment:

Other: Label Condition

Warning Label with Graphics

Experimental group

Description:

Labels will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay." These labels will also have graphic depictions of each health condition above the corresponding text.

Treatment:

Other: Label Condition

No label

No Intervention group

Description:

We will also have a condition where no labels are presented-- business as usual.